18 killed in Maine shootings

Lewiston (US), October 26

Maine Governor Janet Mills said on Thursday that 18 people were killed and 13 were wounded when a man with a rifle attacked patrons at a bowling alley and a bar in the city of Lewiston the previous night.

The police fanned out across southern Maine searching for a person of interest, Robert R Card, a US Army reservist who law enforcement had been committed to a mental health facility over the summer. They circulated photographs of a bearded man in a brown hooded sweatshirt and jeans at one of the crime scenes armed with what appeared to be a rifle.

Public school districts in the area canceled classes on Thursday and police urged residents to stay indoors.

“This is a dark day for Maine,” Governor Mills said at a press conference. “Mr. Card is considered armed and dangerous and police advise that Maine people should not approach him under any circumstances.”

Maine State Police found a white SUV they believe Card drove to the town of Lisbon, about 11 km to the southeast, and urged people to remain indoors in both Lewiston and Lisbon.

A Maine law enforcement bulletin identified Card, 40, as a trained firearms instructor at the US Army Reserve base in Saco, Maine.