Gunman shoots 22 people – suspect on the run
At least 16 dead in gun attack in Maine
At least 16 people were killed in a shooting spree in Lewiston, Maine. 50 to 60 people are said to have been injured. The fleeing shooter is said to be a 40-year-old man. Alexander Görlach reports on current findings from New York.
Bloody act in Maine: In a small town on the US East Coast, a gunman killed 22 people and injured dozens in a restaurant and a leisure center. The police are hunting a 40-year-old suspect – so far without success.
NAfter a gun attack with over 20 deaths and dozens of injuries in the city of Lewiston in the northeast of the USA, the police are searching for the shooter with a large contingent. “We have literally hundreds of police officers on duty,” said a police spokesman late on Wednesday evening (local time).
Investigators are looking for a 40-year-old man who is considered “armed and dangerous.” According to media reports, it is said to be a firearms instructor trained by the military. So far nothing is known about possible motives.
The suspect in a photo from the sheriff’s office
Source: via REUTERS
“We have 22 confirmed dead and many, many injured,” Lewiston Rep. Robert McCarthy confirmed to CNN. The hospitals in Maine’s second-largest city, with over 36,000 residents, are not equipped for “this type of shooting,” McCarthy added, referring to the numerous injured. CNN reported at least 50 to 60 injured, citing multiple police sources.
The shots were fired in a barbecue restaurant and a leisure center with bowling alleys. The shooter is said to have used an assault rifle.
Lewiston is a town with around 39,000 inhabitants, about 200 kilometers north of Boston on the east coast of the USA. About ten kilometers from Lewiston, the police found the car they were looking for, a small white SUV.
The authorities called on the population to stay indoors and not to go out on the streets. Shops and restaurants were advised to close. Schools should also remain closed on Thursday. “Please continue to seek shelter or get to safety,” the school board said in a statement.
The suspect is said to be a shooting instructor
The police published on Facebook a search call: They are looking for 40-year-old Robert Card. The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, whose largest city is Lewiston, shared two photos of the suspect. They show a man wearing a brown jacket and carrying a semi-automatic rifle.
According to a police report seen by the AP news agency, Card is said to have undergone training as a firearms instructor with the US Army. According to the report, Card spent two weeks in a psychiatric facility over the summer. He heard voices and threatened a shooting spree at a military base.
Hospitals “do what they can”
Lewiston police previously said there was an “active shooter” at two locations, once at the Schemengees Bar and Grill and once at the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley. The places are 6.4 kilometers apart.
On its website, Central Maine Medical Center said staff were “preparing for a large number of casualties” and were coordinating with area hospitals to accept patients.
Councilman Robert McCarthy said the small town’s hospitals were not equipped to deal with a situation like this – “they’re doing what they can.” The situation is surreal. “It’s just so unreal,” he said. “You see it on the news and say to yourself that this will never happen here. And then it happens here and it just blows your mind.”
Melinda Small, owner of a sports bar in Lewiston, told the AP that her employees immediately locked the doors to the establishment and moved all 25 customers and employees out of reach of the entrance after a customer heard gunshots at the bowling bar nearby. The police soon arrived and escorted everyone out of the bar in groups of four. Everyone is now safe.
“I’m really in a state of shock,” Small told the AP news agency. “I can count myself lucky that my team reacted quickly and everyone is safe.” At the same time, her heart was broken.
US President Joe Biden assured the state of full support. As the White House announced in Washington, Biden called Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senators Angus King and Susan Collins and Congressman Jared Golden.