Maine shooting: Residents told to stay indoors as manhunt continues for gunman Robert Card

Authorities are hunting for mass shooter Robert Card.

Police asked thousands of Maine residents to stay in their homes as heavily armed local and federal law enforcement agents searched for a second day for an Army reservist who they say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in the worst mass killing in state history.

Nearly two days after the shooting, police have given no indication that they have any leads about the suspect, Robert Card’s whereabouts. During a lengthy news conference without any major developments, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck would only say that authorities are leaving all their options open.

“We’re going to be all over the place,” Sauschuck said. “That’s not saying that we know that the individual is in this house, you know, in that house or they’re in that swath of land, this acreage.”

Investigators found a note at a home associated with Card that was addressed to his son, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials described it as a suicide note but said it didn’t provide any specific motive for the shooting.

Card’s cellphone had also been recovered in the home, the official said, making a search more complicated because authorities routinely use phones to track suspects, the officials said. They were not authorised to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

This photo released by the Lewiston Maine Police Department shows Robert Card, who police have identified as a person of interest in connection to mass shootings.

Previously, police had said that Card had left his car at a boat ramp in the town of Lisbon shortly after the shootings Wednesday evening. Sauschuck said Friday that authorities were going to conduct extensive searches of the nearby Androscoggin River by air and boat, and that a utility was using its dams to lower the river in the area, but he made it clear that would not be their only area of focus.

The Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbours said, and various members of the Card family own hundreds of acres in the area.

“This is his stomping ground,” Richard Goddard, who lives on the road where the search took place, said of the suspect. “He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket.”

Authorities say Card, 40, who has firearms training, opened fire with at least one rifle at a bar and a bowling alley Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city about 15 miles (24 kilometres) from Bowdoin.

The attack left 18 people dead and 13 wounded, three of whom were hospitalised in critical condition, authorities said. Card will be charged with 18 counts of murder once all the victims are identified, authorities said.

Robert Card points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine. Photo / AP

The victims of the shootings include Bob Violette, 76, a retiree who was coaching a youth bowling league and was described as devoted, approachable and kind. Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker told news outlets that his son, Joe, a manager at the bar and grill, died going after the shooter with a butcher knife. Peyton Brewer-Ross was a dedicated pipefitter at Bath Iron Works whose death leaves a gaping void in the lives of his partner, young daughter and friends, members of his union said.

The manager of the youth bowling league vowed that the league would survive despite the devastating grief members were feeling.

Police asked residents to stay home in Lewiston and nearby communities Friday. Schools, public buildings and many businesses remained closed. Bates College in Lewiston cancelled classes Friday and postponed the inauguration of the school’s first Black president.

In close by Sabattus, cashiers at a gas station told their customers “have a good day and go home.”

Authorities acknowledged the difficulty of having residents stay home a second day, but Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre asked for patience and promised they were constantly evaluating the request.

The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022.

A manhunt continues in the aftermath of a mass shooting, in Maine. Authorities are scouring hundreds of acres of family-owned property, sending dive teams to the bottom of a river. Photo / AP

All 18 people killed in Maine shooting range in age from 14 to 76

All 18 of the people who died in a mass shooting in Maine have been identified, according to the state medical examiner

The 16 males and two females killed Wednesday night ranged in age from 14 to 76, the medical examiner said Friday.

According to Maine State Police, seven people died at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and eight more died at Schemengees Bar and Grille. Three others died after being taken to hospitals.

Authorities have not released the victims’ names, but their family members have been confirming their deaths.