A manhunt is underway for a gunman who opened fire at a Lewiston, Maine, bar and bowling alley Wednesday evening in what police called two mass shootings.
The suspect identified as a “person of interest” — Robert R. Card, 40, of Bowdoin — was being sought after the shootings shortly before 7 p.m., said authorities.
State and local police identified Card, who reportedly had been committed to a mental health facility over the summer, as a person of interest in the case.
“Card is considered armed and dangerous,” said Maine State Police. “If seen people should not approach Card or contact with him.”
Police are expanding their search for Card, the person of interest in two mass shooting incidents that left at least 18 dead and another 50 people injured.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office posted photographs of the gunman.
“We are expanding the shelter-in-place advisory and school closings to include the town of Bowdoin. Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal, work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings,” Maine State Police posted on Facebook.
“Last night in a small town in Maine it happened again in America where an individual opened fire killing and injuring everyone and anyone in the line of fire,” said Stewart Resmer, of Wayne. “This time however disturbing preliminary reports reveal that the individual identified as the perpetrator of the latest mass shooting in security camera images is a 20-year weapons and tactics instructor in The United States Army
As the courts repeatedly affirm and reaffirm the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms that were neither conceived nor manufactured during the historical era, we are left to witness the incidents of repeated mass carnage in our time,” said Resmer, a Vietnam veteran and outspoken critic of America’s firearms insanity.
“And so we are at the precipice to decide to demand once and for all if it is time to redefine the Second Amendment in the context of flintlock single shot rifles versus high powered rapid fire weapons of war loose on our streets in the hands of individuals who are intent on using those weapons on the rest of us without regard to age, gender, race, creed, religion or political persuasion, all guaranteed rights in the pursuit of life liberty and happiness,” said Resmer.
Hundreds of police fanned out across the state of Maine hunting for a man wanted in connection with mass shootings at a bar and a bowling alley in the town of Lewiston, as news outlets reported a death toll ranging from 16 to 22, with dozens more wounded.
Officials said there were multiple casualties in the shootings on Wednesday but declined to provide figures.
Earlier, police posted on Facebook photographs of a bearded man in a brown hoodie and jeans at one of the crime scenes, holding what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle in the firing position.
“We have literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine to investigate this case to locate Mr. Card, who is a person of interest,” said Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck.
Police found a white SUV they believe Card drove to the town of Lisbon, about 11 kilometers to the southeast, and Sauschuck said people were asked to remain indoors in both Lewiston and Lisbon.
Card was identified as a trained firearms instructor and member of the U.S. Army Reserve who recently reported that he had mental health issues, including hearing voices. It also said he threatened to shoot up a National Guard base.
“Card was also reported to have been committed to mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released,” said the notice from the Maine Information & Analysis Center.