Maine suspect’s family reportedly working with law enforcement as massive manhunt under way – as it happened
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At least 18 people were killed and 13 injured after a gunman opened fire in two locations in Lewiston, Maine. This blog is now closed; please read the following story for more information.
Suspect's family reportedly working with law enforcement
The family of the suspected shooter in Maine has asked him to surrender, CNN reports.
The brother of 40-year-old Robert Card told CNN via text that Card’s family has “helped law enforcement in anyway possible” in the search for Card.
Police are still looking for Card, and have issued an arrest warrant for eight counts of murder, said Maine state police colonel William Ross during a Thursday press conference.
“The police have been given anything that we can offer to facilitate their efforts,” Ryan said to CNN.
“…There are many people hurting out there, please focus on them … this is many people’s worst nightmare,” he added.
A suspect in the killing of 18 people and wounding of 13 in two shootings in Maine was on the run on Thursday as authorities issued arrest warrants for multiple counts of murder.
Police named 40-year-old Robert Card, an army reservist and firearms instructor, as the suspect in the Wednesday-night killings at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston. Card, who has a history of mental illness, was described as “armed and dangerous”.
His car was discovered shortly before midnight in Lisbon, about 8 miles from the murder scenes. Officials urged residents in both towns and surrounding areas to shelter in place as a multistate manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement personnel continued searching forests, waterways and small towns.
Card’s car was found near a boat ramp. The coast guard was searching the Kennebec River though authorities would not comment on whether they suspected he had escaped by water.
Janet Mills, the Democratic governor, said the community was just beginning to come to terms with the murders.“This is a dark day for Maine,” she said.
Card’s family is reportedly working with law enforcement and has urged him to surrender.
Seven of the victims, six male and one female, were killed at the alley, Ross said. Eight others, all male, died at the restaurant. Three more died in the hospital. John Alexander, the chief medical officer of Central Maine Healthcare, said three of the wounded were in critical condition.
Agents from federal agencies including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and theDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS) arrived in Maine to join the search and investigation.
Bryan MacFarlane, 40, loved his motorbike and his dog
Details have started to emerge of the victims of the largest mass shooting of 2023 so far. Here’s what we know about them.
Bryan MacFarlane
Bryan MacFarlane, 40, was killed at Schemengees Bar & Grille while playing cornhole, his sister Keri told CNN. She said he was part of the “tight-knit” local deaf community who gather there on Wednesdays to play the game.
MacFarlane, who also loved his motorbike and his dog, was one of the first deaf people in Vermont to get a commercial truck driving license. “Many states don’t let deaf drive trucks so I’m very proud of him for achieving that. He worked as a truck driver for several years,” Brooks said.
Details have started to emerge of the victims of the largest mass shooting of 2023 so far. Here’s what we know about them.
Bill Brackett
Bill Brackett was confirmed as one of the victims by his father, William Bracket. His father told ABC News that Bill was part of a gathering of deaf people playing cornhole at Schemengees Bar & Grill.
Steven Vozzella
Steven Vozzella was confirmed as one of the victims by his brother Nick Vozzella to ABC News. He too was at the gathering for deaf people.
Joseph Walker
Joseph Walker, 56, was confirmed as one of the victims by his father Leroy Walker Sr. Joseph was the manager at Schemengees Bar & Grill.
Walker was a husband, father and grandfather, Leroy Walker, said on MSNBC.
The elder Walker said his son frequently put on tournaments to raise money for local causes had been planning a corn hole tournament to help veterans when he was shot and killed on Wednesday.
Walker Sr said son attempted to go after the gunman but he was shot twice in the stomach. Leroy said everyone called Joseph “Cueball” because he had his head shaved for years.
Tricia Asselin, 53: 'She was going to try and help'
Details have started to emerge of the victims of the largest mass shooting of 2023 so far. Here’s what we know about them.
Tricia Asselin
Tricia Asselin, 53, was confirmed as one of the victims who died at Just-in-Time Recreation, her brother, who asked not to be named, confirmed to ABC News. She was a part-time employee at the bowling alley.
She trying to call 911 when the gunman shot and killed her, her brother told CNN. “She wasn’t going to run,” her brother said. “She was going to try and help.”
“It’s very emotional, but Tricia is the type of person who would have done anything for children and anybody,” her mother, Alicia Lachance, told Rolling Stone.
Details have started to emerge of the victims of the largest mass shooting of 2023 so far. Here’s what we know about them.
Bob Violette
The Portland Press Herald has identified 76-year-old Bob Violette as one of the victims killed Wednesday night in Lewiston. Violette was a retired Sears mechanic and avid bowler, according to his daughter-in-law.
The Portland Press Herald reported: “Violette was born and raised in Lewiston and grew up speaking French and attending Catholic church … a life-long Lewiston resident, Bob had deep ties to the community and was the type of person who made everyone feel comfortable and cared for”, his daughter-in-law, Cassandra, said.
“He wouldn’t let you walk out the door without giving him a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. He was just there for everything,” she said.
He loved kids and had a special bond with his grandkids. His eldest grandsons regularly participated in youth bowling nights with him on Wednesdays, and he and his oldest grandson shared a love of Chinese Food.
David Hogg, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and co-founder of March For Our Lives, called the shooting “an American nightmare.”
“How many times do young people have to say enough?” Hogg said. “It bears repeating again and again – these tragedies, these shootings, this senseless loss of life, is preventable. We have the solutions, and we know they work. We just need leaders who will do more than peddle bullshit and put people over their own ambitions.”
Trevon Bosley, who chairs the gun control advocacy group’s board, said that the shooting showed a “sad reality in America today.”
“What was supposed to be a fun night during the week, grabbing some food with friends and a family outing at the bowling alley, turned deadly as people jumped behind tables and hid behind pins and bowling balls to dodge bullets,” he said. Whether it’s schools, movie theaters, parks, convenience stores, and now restaurants and bowling alleys – nowhere is safe, especially not for our children or our young people.”
The Coast Guard is searching the Kennebec River, according to multiple reports.
A Coast Guard official confirmed to CBS and The New York Times that it has deployed resources to search for the suspect in the River, after a vehicle was found near a boat launch.
The Guardian has yet to independently confirm this development.
Susan Collins , a Republican of Maine, spoke on the Senate floor to thank the president for mobilizing resources to help find the suspect in the Lewiston shooting.
She said:
I am grateful for the expressions of support, and offers of help and condolences that I’ve received from my colleagues and friends across the nation, as well as from the Administration. I’ve had conversations, both last night [and] throughout the night, and early this morning with President Biden, Secretary [of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Special Adviser to the President Tom Perez, who has been particularly helpful in mobilizing resources for the State of Maine so that this killer can be captured.”
Collins’ has received harsh backlash for her previous votes against gun control measures. My colleague Gloria Oladipo reports:
In her 26-year career as senator, Collins has voted down several Senate amendments on gun control, according to data from Vote Smart, a nonpartisan non-profit that collects data on candidates’ voting records.
In 2013, Collins rejected two Senate amendments that would have banned the sale of assault rifles and limited access to firearm magazine capacity.
Collins has also supported allowing loaded guns in state parks and the concealed carrying of firearms across state lines, two Senate amendments she voted for in 2009.
More recently, Collins was one of 15 Republicans who voted for the 2022 bipartisan gun bill, which ended nearly three decades of congressional inaction on the issue.
Here are some images coming through the newswires of Maine residents and others across the nation mourning the victims of last night’s shooting (which the Gun Violence Archive declared as the worst mass shooting of 2023):
Jess Paquette expresses her support for her city in the wake of Wednesday's mass shootings at a restaurant and bowling alley, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP
Miia Zellner, an art teacher from Turner, Maine, attaches a heart cut-out with a message of positivity to a tree in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP
Heart-shaped cut-outs with messages of positivity adorns trees in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP
Flags fly at half-staff on the National Mall to honor victims of the October 25 mass-shooting in Lewiston Maine, where at least 18 people are dead and 13 injured, in Washington, DC, USA, 26 October 2023. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Aftermath of deadly mass shooting in Lewiston A U.S. flag is seen at half mast, following a deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, in Lisbon Falls, Maine, U.S. October 26, 2023. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
A patient that was tranfered from Central Maine Medical Center to Maine Medical Center has been discharged, CNN reports.
“On Oct. 25, Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) transferred one patient injured in the Lewiston shootings to Maine Medical Center (MMC). That patient has since been discharged. No other MaineHealth hospitals received patients from CMMC,” MaineHealth said, CNN reports.
“No other MaineHealth hospitals received patients from CMMC,” it added.
Here are some images coming through the newswires of the manhunt currently under way for the Lewiston shooting suspect:
A police tactical unit makes its way down a street during the search for mass-shooting suspect Robert Card in Lisbon Falls, Maine, USA, 26 October 2023. Photograph: Cj Gunther/EPA
A law enforcement officer, left, carries a rifle near a passer-by, right, outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Photograph: Steven Senne/AP
An aerial view of law enforcement personnel at the Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant after deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, U.S. October 26, 2023. Photograph: Eric Cox/Reuters
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team gather at the site of a mass shooting at Schemengees Bar and Grille on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Photograph: Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Police officers stop to question a driver at a roadblock, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine, during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP
Aftermath of deadly mass shooting in Lewiston Law enforcement members patrol near a Lisbon school, following a deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, in Lisbon Falls, Maine, U.S. October 26, 2023. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The CEO of Central Maine Healthcare, Steve Littleson, has issued the following statement in response to last night’s shootings where numerous victims were transported to Central Maine Medical Center:
“On behalf of the doctors, nurses and team members at Central Maine Medical Center we extend our deepest condolences to everyone affected by the tragedy last evening.
Words cannot describe our collective sense of loss.
I want to acknowledge the heroic efforts of our community partners who, along with the entire Central Maine Healthcare team, responded together to provide expert and compassionate care during the most challenging event in recent history.
We will share more details as we can do so. In the meantime, we join our community in prayers for all.”
Army confirms suspect is a petroleum supply specialist: reports
The US army has confirmed that Robert Card, the 40-year old suspect in the Lewiston shootings, is a petroleum supply specialist, the Portland Press Herald reports.
According to army spokesperson Bryce Dubee, Card’s rank in the army reserve is Sgt. 1st Class, the outlet reports. It adds that Card is a petroleum supply specialist who enlisted in 2002 and has not been deployed in combat.
“Dubee said Card has received awards for his service, including the Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon,” the Portland Press Herald reports.
California’s Democratic representative Adam Schiff – a staunch gun control advocate – has issued his condolences to the victims killed in the Lewiston shootings, saying:
“My heart breaks for their families and loved ones, and yet another community torn apart. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can stop this. We must stop this.”
Simply horrible. At least 16 killed and dozens more injured in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.
My heart breaks for their families and loved ones, and yet another community torn apart.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can stop this. We must stop this.
Bates College has postponed its presidential inauguration for its new president Garry W Jenkins in the wake of the shootings that left one of its college employees injured.
In an update issued on Thursday, Geoffrey Swift, vice-president for finance and administration, said:
“One college employee was present at one of the shooting locations and was injured, but is expected to make a full recovery. To the best of our knowledge, two students were also near one of the crime scenes but were unharmed.”
He also added that Friday’s classes have been canceled as a result of the shelter-in-place order.
“If the lockdown is lifted overnight, we intend for the campus to open on Friday, with classes canceled so that we can be together in community and to support one another,” he said.
White House: New speaker must find 'common ground' on gun reform
Richard Luscombe
Over at the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been urging new House speaker Mike Johnson to find “common ground” on gun reforms following the killing of 18 people in two shootings in Maine.
Echoing Joe Biden’s statement earlier, in which the president said “this is not normal, and we cannot accept it”, Jean-Pierre told reporters at her afternoon press briefing:
It’s within Congress’s power to pass legislation that will make our streets safer, that will make our community safer, that will make our schools safer.
The House has a new speaker. He said he’s ready to get to work, and to find common ground. Now is the time to find common ground. Let’s work together to ban assault weapons, and high capacity magazines.
Let’s work together to enact universal background checks, require safe storage of guns and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals who have no business being armed with a weapon of war.
Karine Jean-Pierre addresses reporters on Thursday at the White House. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP
Republicans have been fiercely resistive of proposals to pass meaningful gun safety changes, although moderate reforms such as an expansion of red flag laws and background checks for young gun purchasers were contained in a bipartisan bill he signed into law last year.
Jean-Pierre reiterated Biden’s assertion that executive action alone “is just not enough”:
There have been literally hundreds of mass shootings in the last year alone, leaving empty seats at dinner tables across the country and leaving those who survive these heinous acts both physically and mentally scarred.
And while we have made progress since the president signed the bipartisan safer communities act into law, much more must be done.
Lewiston, Maine, was still under partial lockdown on Thursday morning, roads in town blocked by law enforcement searching for Robert Card, identified as the murder suspect in a mass shooting that killed 18 and wounded dozens more.
At J&H Variety on the edge of town, one of the few stores open, local residents all seemed to know some who had been killed or injured.
“It’s scary – this is a tight-knit community,” said Heather Thurlow. “We’re a little on edge because this kind of thing doesn’t happen round here. It was frightening – there were 50 cop cars driving up and down”
Hunter Karcher, 12, said his brother Justin, aged 22, had been shot four times and is currently in the ICU. “They won’t tell us anything except that he got shot four times.”
A property manager who gave his name as Bill said the community around Lewiston was self-sufficient, showing an assault rifle in the back of his Jeep.
“This a community takes care of itself,” he said. This is a second-amendment community, and this shooting not a firearms issue – it’s a mental health issue.” But, he added, “it’s unreal and a little overwhelming.”
As of Thursday morning, with the suspect still at large, he added, “Most people are carrying now.”
Rumours about the suspect are rude – that he’s a survivalist, ex-special forces, and had recently lost his job. Card’s family, they said, had been helping law enforcement on Wednesday evening when the shootings occurred.
“It’s been sketchy but if he’s still in the area he’ll get purged out,” Bill said, theorizing that Card may have gone inland from the coast, or taken off along the rocky coastline.
Many gave names of the fatally injured, but those have not been formally released. They included a FedEx employee and a young woman who worked at the bowling alley.
Tim Whitney, 23, said his grandmother’s husband Alan Nickerson had been shot in the pelvis. “He’s doing good in the hospital,” Whitney said.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, has issued his condolences on last night’s shootings.
McConnell, a staunch gun rights advocate who opposed numerous federal gun control measures in the past decade, said:
“I was devastated to hear the news last night of a deadly shooting in Lewiston, Maine … We pray especially for the victims of this senseless violence, for their families, and for the law enforcement personnel working tirelessly to save lives and bring the suspect to justice.”
