At least 18 people were killed and 13 wounded in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, Governor Janet Mills announced Thursday, after a gunman opened fire on patrons at a restaurant and a bowling alley.
A manhunt involving hundreds of officers is underway for Robert Card, 40, who has been identified as a person of interest in the shooting.
“This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security,” Mills said during the press conference. “On behalf of the 1.3 million people in the state of Maine, I hold these families and this city in my heart.”
“I know that the people of Lewiston are enduring immeasurable pain. I promise you this, we will all help you carry that grief,” the Democratic governor added.
“Card is considered armed and dangerous,” the state’s public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck said following the shooting spree. Maine State Police issued advisories throughout the night and Thursday morning for residents to shelter-in-place. Dozens of public schools, including kindergartens and universities, were shuttered by the state on Thursday, with Card yet to be apprehended.
The shooting was carried out at Schemengees, a restaurant, and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley, Lewiston police said. The two locations are roughly four miles apart. Seven bodies were found at the bowling alley, with another eight others discovered at the restaurant nearby. Three people rushed to hospital have since died of their wounds.
A police bulletin circulating among law enforcement and obtained by the Associated Press indicated that Card had been trained as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training center in Maine. The bulletin also said that Card had been committed to a mental-health facility for two weeks over the summer. The bulletin did not specify Card’s specific condition but did say that he was “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
Police reportedly visited Card’s family, including his sister-in-law, who resides in Bowdoin, a small town in Maine. “I’ve known my brother-in-law since high school and he’s always been a wonderful, loving person,” she wrote in a text message to the Journal. “Please pray for us.”
Mills shared an earlier police message and encouraged people to stay safe. “I am aware of and have been briefed on the active shooter situation in Lewiston. I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement,” the Democratic leader wrote on X. “I will to continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.”
Some legislators used the backdrop of the shooting to demand reforms to gun laws. “Absolutely tragic, frightening news out of Lewiston, Maine, tonight,” Senator Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.), a military veteran, wrote following the news. “My heart breaks for the parents who lost children and the children who lost parents in this incomprehensible mass shooting. We must get these weapons of war off our streets. And we all know who’s preventing it.”
Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine), released a more muted statement that thanked Washington, D.C., for the assistance they had offered. “As our state mourns this horrific mass shooting, we appreciate the support we’ve received from across the country, including the call I received from President Biden offering assistance.”
“This is a dark time in America. We have a lot of problems,” the newly-elected Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“We are really, really hopeful and prayerful. Prayer is appropriate in a time like this. That the evil can end. Everyone wants this to end.”
The Biden administration has also been closely monitoring the ongoing situation. “The President spoke by phone individually to Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, and Congressman Jared Golden about the shooting in Lewiston, Maine and offered full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,” the White House said in an official statement.
The Wednesday night attack is the deadliest mass shooting carried out in the U.S. this year.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article, which relied on reporting in the Wall Street Journal, stated that as least 22 people had been killed in the shooting.