LEWISTON, Maine — The search for Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin ended Friday when his body was found by law enforcement crews at a recycling facility in Lisbon.
According to The Associated Press, Card's body was found in Lisbon at about 9:20 p.m.
Card was the suspect in a mass shooting that killed 18 people in two separate shootings at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston on Wednesday night.
Late Thursday, heavily armed law enforcement backed by a police helicopter had surrounded a home and told anyone who might be inside to surrender, but authorities eventually left without indicating anyone had been taken into custody. Additional searches were and would continue to be executed while the suspect remains at large.
Card was considered to be armed and dangerous, according to police, and members of the public were advised not to approach him or make any contact. An arrest warrant charging Card with multiple counts of murder has been issued.
More than 350 law enforcement officials were involved in the search for Card, according to state police. The search was a coordinated effort between federal, state, and local law enforcement.
A shelter-in-place was issued for all of Androscoggin County, as well as the town of Bowdoin, which is in Sagadahoc County, but that has since been lifted as of 5 p.m. Friday.
WHAT WE KNOW
- Authorities were searching towns, forests, and waterways for the suspect.
- Here’s what we know about the suspect and where the shooting happened.
- Social media posts spread an incorrect video of the Maine suspect.
- Maine passed a law to try to prevent mass shootings, but some say more is needed.
- The shooting is the 36th mass killing in the United States this year.
Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck held a 10 a.m. press conference Friday to provide updates on the search for Card.
Sauschuck said he plans to hold daily 10 a.m. briefings to provide updates on the case. He said he plans to provide as much information as he can during these briefings, but due to operational and tactical safety concerns, there may be some questions he can't answer.
"I want you to know that you're going to see us in the morning," Sauschuck said. "We're going to go over what happened overnight, and we're going to kind of talk about what the plan for the day is."
Sauschuck said 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.”
Authorities have not publicly said how many guns were used in Wednesday's shootings or how they were obtained.
Sauschuck said 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.
FRIDAY EVENING PRESS CONFERENCE
The names and ages of all 18 people who died Wednesday following a mass shooting event Wednesday.
Maine Department of Public Safety also lifted the shelter-in-place order and noted that hunting would be prohibited in four towns. That prohibition was lifted after Card's body was found Friday night.
Here are their names:
- Ron G. Morin, 55
- Peyton Brewer-Ross, 40
- Joshua A. Seal, 36
- Bryan M. MacFarlane, 41
- Joseph Lawrence Walker, 57
- Arthur Fred Strout, 42
- Maxx A. Hathaway, 35
- Stephen M. Vozzella, 45
- Thomas Ryan Conrad, 34
- Michael R. Deslauriers II, 51
- Jason Adam Walker, 51
- Tricia C. Asselin, 53
- William A. Young, 44
- Aaron Young, 14
- Robert E. Violette, 76
- Lucille M. Violette, 73
- William Frank Brackett, 48
- Keith D. Macneir, 64
HUNTING RESTRICTIONS
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife initially prohibited all hunting in four towns beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. Those towns are Bowdoin, Lewiston, Lisbon, and Monmouth. This order has since been lifted as of Friday night.
"In order to ensure the safety of the public and assist law enforcement in their search," MDIF&W spokesperson Mark Latti said in a news release issued Friday evening.
LEWISTON SCHOOLS CLOSED FRIDAY, SUPERINTENDENT SAYS
Lewiston Public Schools were closed again on Friday, according to a post by Superintendent Jake Langlais on the district’s website.
“We remain in a shelter-in-place situation,” the post said. “We will not open buildings or run bus transportation.”
The superintendent said students and staff have been directly impacted by the shooting and the events since 7 p.m. Wednesday are “unimaginable.”
Portland Public Schools also remained closed Friday, according to a post on the district’s website. MSAD 75 schools, which include the towns of Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Topsham, and Harpswell, are also closed.
Bates College in Lewiston also canceled classes Friday and postponed the inauguration of the school’s first Black president, Garry Jenkins, the school's website said.
Most of the law enforcement officers and a helicopter that surrounded a home connected to a relative of the suspect in the Maine shootings left after executing a search warrant and calling for anyone inside to surrender Thursday night.
Officers had yelled through a megaphone at the home near Bowdoin for Card or anyone inside to “Come out with your hands up.”
Maine State Police said afterward that the announcements were standard.
“It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes law enforcement will search,” the statement posted on Facebook said.
Richard Goddard, who lives on the road where the searches were taking place in Bowdoin, said he knows the Card family and that Robert knows the terrain well.
“This is his stomping ground. He grew up here. He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket,” he said.
On Friday, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck shared the names and ages of all 18 people who died in the shootings Wednesday.
Messages from friends and family of the victims have been pouring in since the tragic events took place.
Sauschuck held a moment of silence in a Friday evening press conference to honor and remember the victims after reading out their names.
CANADA WARNED BORDER AGENTS TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MAINE SUSPECT
The Canada Border Services Agency had issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to its officers stationed along the Canada-U.S. border, warning them to be on the lookout for the man suspected of fatally shooting at least 18 people in southern Maine.
The shootings were reported Wednesday night in Lewiston, about 260 kilometers (161 miles) southwest of the New Brunswick border. As a massive search continued Thursday for suspect Robert Card, residents of southern Maine were told to lock their doors and remain inside.
The CBSA said it was working with Canadian and U.S. law enforcement partners, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to “protect Canada’s borders against any threat or attempt at illegal entry.”
The Canadian border agency said that all entry points along the Canada-U.S. border remain open.
MAINE LAWMAKERS VOW TO ENSURE SIMILAR TRAGEDY WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN
State lawmakers in Maine, which has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates, called the mass shootings that killed at least 18 people a tragedy and urged unity in the face of crisis.
State Rep. Mana Abdi of Lewiston, the first Somali American elected to the Maine Legislature, and fellow Democratic Reps. Margaret Craven and Michel Lajoie said in a joint statement that they were “committed to ensuring that a tragedy like this will never happen to another community ever again.”
“We are deeply thankful to all of the first responders, law enforcement and hospital staff who responded swiftly, and will continue to keep all of our neighbors, families and friends who have been affected in our hearts,” they said.
Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby, who represents nearby Auburn, said the community was in shock and the loss the state is facing is “just unfathomable.” Libby also said this was not the time to talk about the state’s gun culture.
“We’re already seeing our community really rallying together in support. I know that same spirit will carry us on through, but it’s really not a time for guessing at motives at this point and pointing fingers,” Libby said.
BIDEN URGES RESIDENTS IN SEARCH AREA TO HEED LAW ENFORCEMENT WARNINGS
President Joe Biden on Thursday urged residents of the area where police are searching for the suspect to heed the warning of local law enforcement.
“For countless Americans who have survived gun violence and been traumatized by it, a shooting such as this reopens deep and painful wounds,” he said in a statement, adding that he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the families of the victims. “Far too many Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it.”
Biden once again called for the passage of a ban of so-called assault weapons. The president also ordered flags at half-staff to honor the victims of the shooting.
A U.S. Army reservist suspected of killing at least 18 people in Maine had been taken by police for an evaluation after military officials became concerned that he was acting erratically in mid-July, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.
The official said commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment became concerned in mid-July that Robert Card was acting erratically while the unit was training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.
The official said military commanders became concerned about Card’s safety and asked for the police to be called. New York state police took Card to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point for evaluation, the official said.
The official was not authorized to publicly discuss information about the incident and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
An arrest warrant for eight counts of murder has been issued for the suspect in the shootings at a Maine bowling alley and a restaurant, according to state police.
As more victims are identified, the counts against suspect Robert Card will probably grow to 18, Maine State Police Col. William Ross said.
Police responded to a “very fast-moving, very dangerous scene,” Ross said, noting that seven people were found dead at the bowling alley and eight at the bar, including one victim who was outside. All had gunshot wounds. Three people who were taken to hospitals also died, Ross said.