Law enforcement authorities in Maine were conducting a sprawling manhunt Thursday for the gunman who killed 18 people in separate shootings at a bowling alley and a restaurant in the state’s second-largest city.
An additional 13 people were injured in the rampage Wednesday evening in Lewiston.
Police were looking for suspect Robert Card and said his vehicle was found abandoned in Lisbon on Wednesday night 8 miles southeast of Lewiston.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that police found a note at Mr. Card’s home while searching the property Thursday. Investigators said they were working to determine the meaning of the note.
Heavily armed police, supported by an armored vehicle and helicopters, surrounded a home owned by Mr. Card’s family near the town of Bowdoin as floodlights, a robot and flash bombs were deployed at various times Thursday evening.
“You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police shouted through a megaphone.
It wasn’t clear that Mr. Card or anyone else was in the home. Mr. Card remained at large Thursday night and was considered armed and dangerous.
“The announcements that are being heard over a loudspeaker are standard search warrant announcements when executing a warrant to ensure the safety of all involved,” state police spokesperson Shannon Moss said. “It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes law enforcement will search.”
Maine State Police were leading the investigation with assistance from Lewiston police and the Boston field offices of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security,” Gov. Janet Mills said at a Thursday press conference. “No words can truly, fully measure the grief.”
Mr. Card, 40, is a certified firearms instructor and a sergeant in the Army Reserve, according to Army records provided to CNN. He joined the Army Reserve in 2002 and works as a petroleum supply specialist at a training facility in Saco, Maine.
Police took Mr. Card to be evaluated at a medical facility this summer after military officials noticed him behaving erratically during a July training session at West Point in New York, according to a U.S. official who spoke with The Associated Press.
Authorities said Mr. Card had reported “hearing voices” and threatened to shoot up the military base where he was training.
Katie Card, the suspect’s sister-in-law, told NBC News that Mr. Card began to hear “horrible” things after he was fitted for high-tech hearing aids months ago.
“He was picking up voices that he had never heard,” she told the network. “His mind was twisting them around. He was humiliated by the things that he thought were being said.”
Ms. Card said the audio hallucinations recently turned into a “manic belief” and her brother-in-law became committed to the idea that “everyone was against him all of a sudden.”
Shelter-in-place orders remained in effect Thursday for Lewiston, Lisbon and the nearby towns of Auburn and Bowdoin.
A gunman armed with a long rifle first targeted Just-In-Time Recreation (formerly known as Sparetime) bowling alley just before 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Maine State Police Col. William Ross said seven people were killed at the bowling alley. The victims were identified as one woman and six men.
Col. Ross said eight more people were killed at Schemengees Bar & Grille roughly 10 minutes later. Authorities said all eight were men. Seven were killed inside the establishment, and one was slain outside.
Police said three people who suffered gunshot wounds during the carnage later succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 18.
Mr. Card was facing eight counts of murder for the eight victims police had identified. Col. Ross said he expects that number to increase as the investigation continues.
During the Thursday morning press conference, police did not disclose the ages of those slain. Many families and children were at Just-In-Time when the carnage broke out.
Zoey Levesque, 10, was grazed by a bullet at the bowling alley once the shooter opened fire.
“I never thought I’d grow up and get a bullet in my leg,” Zoey told ABC News on Wednesday night. “Like, why do people do this?
“I was more worried about, like, am I going to live? Am I going to make it out of here?” she said. “Like, what’s going to happen? Are the cops going to come?”
Leroy Walker, a Lewiston city councilor whose son Joseph Walker ran Schemengees, said police told him Thursday that his son was one of those killed in the shooting.
Mr. Walker told CBS affiliate WGME in Portland that police said his son was fatally shot as he grabbed a knife and tried to stop the gunman.
“My son was loved by thousands of people,” Mr. Walker said.
Another victim at Schemengees was Bryan MacFarlane, who was deaf.
Keri Brooks, the victim’s sister, told CNN that her brother was playing cornhole with other local deaf residents when gunfire erupted.
The family learned of his death when police arrived at his mother’s home Thursday morning.
“I grew up in Maine, and the deaf community is a tight-knit community,” Ms. Brooks said. “Not only was my brother slain but my friends were, too.”
The active search for the shooter caused ripple effects throughout Maine.
The state’s largest city, Portland, nearly 40 miles south of Lewiston, closed its public schools while the gunman remained free.
Outdoor goods retailer L.L. Bean shut down its headquarters, flagship store and factories in Maine in light of the manhunt.
Officials said they believed the weapon used in the attack was a legally acquired sniper rifle purchased earlier this year.
President Biden said he greenlighted his administration to provide Maine authorities with anything they need in their search and ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff.
He also prodded congressional Republicans to ban “assault weapons.”
“I urge Republican lawmakers in Congress to fulfill their duty to protect the American people. Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers,” Mr. Biden said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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