Police in Maine said they executed several search warrants in Bowdoin Thursday night as they searched for mass shooting suspect Robert Card. At around 7 p.m, in a neighborhood with several homes, police were heard calling for Card to come out with his hands up. However, Maine State Police said announcements to that effect are standard, and it was unknown whether Card was in the area where the search warrants were being executed.
State and federal authorities, including the Coast Guard, have been trying to track down Card, an Army reservist, for about 24 hours.
Authorities believe he carried out attacks that killed 18 people and injured 13 others, at least three critically, in Lewiston, Maine, about 15 miles east of Bowdoin.
Maine State Police Col. Will Ross said eight people were pronounced dead at the Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, seven were found dead at the Just-in-Time Recreation (previously named Sparetime Recreation) bowling alley and three others died after being transported to the hospital.
Lewiston and surrounding areas are under a shelter-in-place order. Schools in the area are closed for the remainder of the week. Most local businesses were also closed as the manhunt continued.
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An arrest warrant was issued for Card Thursday morning. Police said he already faces murder charges.
Card is a petroleum supply specialist in the Army Reserve. A spokesperson with the Army said Card is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in Saco, Maine.
The Army said he enlisted in 2002 and has never been deployed to combat.
As more than 100 law enforcement officials searched for Card, they were warned about his military training. Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee said the military did not train Card as a firearms instructor and he did not serve in that capacity, clarifying information from a police bulletin reviewed by law enforcement.
The bulletin also states that Card threatened to carry out a shooting at the military training base in Saco. It added that Card was committed to a mental facility over the summer after he reported hearing voices.
Lawmakers and officials discussed the shooting at a press conference on Thursday.
"Today is a dark day for the state of Maine," Maine Sen. Susan Collins said at the conference. "This heinous attack, which has robbed the lives of at least 18 Mainers and injured so many more, is the worst mass shooting that the state of Maine has ever experienced and could ever imagine."
President Joe Biden told Sen. Collins he is ready to offer any federal help that Maine and the city of Lewiston require. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also offered resources from the department.
During the briefing, Maine Congressman Jared Golden, Representative for Maine's 2nd district, called on Congress to ban assault weapons like the one used in the shooting in Lewiston.
"For the good of my community, I will work with any colleague to get this done in the time I have left in Congress," Golden said.
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Authorities have not yet released the names of those killed in the shooting, but The Associated Press reports some family members have confirmed the deaths of some victims to media outlets.
Those who were killed include Bob Violette, 76, who volunteered as a coach for a youth bowling league; Michael Deslauriers, who was at the bowling alley and Joe Walker, the bar manager at Schemengees Bar and Grille.
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