A gunman opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston, Maine, early Wednesday evening, throwing the state’s second largest city into chaos and its residents into panic.
Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson told the Bangor Daily News that as many as 20 people had been killed, including seven people found dead at Sparetime Recreation and an unknown number at Schemengees Bar & Grille. The two locations are about four miles apart.
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Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, declined to confirm those numbers at late evening news conference.
“There’s been a lot of numbers all over the map all evening, and I don’t think that’s helpful,” he said.
Saushuck said investigators have identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in the shootings. He declined to call Card a suspect, but said investigators had located his car in nearby Lisbon. He cautioned that anyone seeing card “should not approach or make contact with him in anyway.”
The commissioner also declined to provide information about Card’s background, but The Associated Press said that Card was trained as a firearms instructor at a US Army Reserve training facility in Maine and was recently committed to a mental health facitility, according to a state police bulletin. The document said Card reported hearing voices and had threatened to carry out a shooting at a training base in Saco, Maine.
Sauschuck said the shooting began just before 7 p.m. and prompted a widespread law enforcement response to both shooting scenes. He said that a shelter in place order issued for the whole of Androscoggin County would remain in place for the time being. The shelter in place was also extended to Lisbon, where Card’s vehicle, a white Subaru Outback, was found.
Lewiston Police and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office early in the night released security photos of the man believed to have carried out the shooting, as CrimeOnline reported. Saushuck later confirmed those pictures to show Card. The images of the suspect show a man with short brown hair and a beard, in a brown sweatshirt and dark pants and carrying an AR-style rifle.
Local, state, and federal officials responded to the shooting throughout the night. Gov. Janet Mills issued a statement saying she was “aware of and have been briefed” on the situation.
“I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement,” she said. “I will to continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.”
US Senator Angus King said that he was returning to Maine on the first available flight and that he had spoken with President Joe Biden, who offered federal assistance.
Local schools, including several colleges, announced they would be closed on Thursday.
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[Featured image: Robert Card/Lewiston Police Department]
