Police in Lewiston, Maine, have ordered people and businesses to shelter in place after shootings left at least 16 people dead, authorities said.
More than 50 people were also believed to be injured in the two shootings, and the death toll could be as high as 22. The suspect is still at large.
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The Lewiston Police Department identified Robert Card, 40, as “a person of interest regarding the mass shooting at Schemengees Bar and Sparetime Recreation” and warned that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Card has not been found, according to Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck, who spoke briefly during a press conference late Wednesday night. However, a “vehicle of interest,” a 2013 white Subaru Outback, was located in Lisbon, Maine.
Androscoggin County is ordered to shelter in place, and state police say the advisory has expanded to the town of Bowdoin, just east of Lewiston and where Card is from.
Card is a firearms instructor who had recently reported hearing voices and threatened to “shoot up” the National Guard base in Saco, Maine, according to a state police bulletin shared with law enforcement officials.
The bulletin added that Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer and had been trained at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility in Maine. He is “believed to be” in the Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, Maine.
The suspected mass-shooter in Maine is Robert Card pic.twitter.com/g4cXP68HOX
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“It’s unbelievable. It’s literally unbelievable. We have our entire force out here right now,” Jason Levesque, mayor of Auburn, Maine, told Fox News early Thursday morning as the manhunt for Card continued. Auburn is the seat of Androscoggin County.
Levesque said about 45 to 50 witnesses came forward to authorities Wednesday night as they gathered at the reunification center, where the mayor added some people did not find their loved ones.
President Joe Biden was made aware of the situation and is being kept up to date.
“The President has been briefed on what’s known so far about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and will continue to receive updates,” the White House press office said.
Biden individually spoke to Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME), Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME), and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) by phone, pledging full federal support.
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Mills also announced that she is being updated on the shooting.
“I am aware of and have been briefed on the active shooter situation in Lewiston,” she said in a statement. “I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement. I will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.”
