Police have identified a person of interest in a series of shootings that killed at least 16 people Wednesday evening in Lewiston, Maine.
The Lewiston Police Department posted on its Facebook page that “Law Enforcement is attempting to locate Robert Card 4/4/1983, as a person of interest regarding the mass shooting at Schemengees Bar and Sparetime Recreation this evening.”
The bulletin said Mr. Card “should be considered armed and dangerous.” He remained on the loose as of public reports by near midnight Wednesday.
Fox-3 in New York reported that his last known address was in Bowdoin, Maine.
Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, identified Mr. Card as a “person of interest” but pointedly refused to use the word “suspect.” He also refused to go into Mr. Card’s background.
CBS News reporter David Begnaud posted on X that Mr. Card is “a trained firearms instructor believed to be in the Army reserve stationed out of Saco, ME.”
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Citing “law enforcement,” Mr. Begnaud also posted that Mr. Card “recently reported mental health issues including hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard base in Saco.”
This was also not his first encounter with the mental-health system, Mr. Benaud reported, saying the suspect was “committed to a mental health facility for 2 weeks in the summer of 2023.”
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released on its Facebook page two photos of a bearded, middle-aged White man walking into an establishment with an assault weapon raised to his shoulder.
Robert McCarthy, a Lewiston city councilor, said on CNN that police had identified the suspect’s car as a white or silver Subaru and knew its license plate.
Mr. McCarthy also said the confirmed death count was 22, though Mr. Sauschuck was reticent about confirming that or any other details about the shooting or the manhunt at his 11:30 p.m. press conference.
On Thursday morning, police said at least 16 were dead.
On its website, Central Maine Medical Center said staff were “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and were coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients.
The shootings hit at least two separate locations — Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley on Mollison Way about 7:15 p.m.; then another shooting at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street.
There were initial reports of a third shooting at the Walmart Distribution Center on Alfred A Plourde Parkway, but Walmart spokesman Joe Pennington told the Lewiston Sun Journal that no shooting occurred on the company property and all employees were accounted for.
Mr. McCarthy said he had been told that the bowling alley was hosting a children’s event.
The city remained under lockdown late Wednesday evening.
The Sun Journal reported that the Subaru had been found abandoned near the Lisbon boat dock near state Route 196.
Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison noted reports of Mr. Card’s military background and his reported flight into a rural area of Maine and warned of a lengthy manhunt and possible new shootouts.
“This could last for days on end. We hope it doesn’t, but we should” prepare for the worst, he told CNN. “We know that this person likely has the skill set to survive and to sustain himself through a protective event that could last be on one news cycle or one police tour of duty.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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