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Police in Lewiston, Maine, urged residents to shelter in place Wednesday night as they searched for an active shooter responsible for “multiple casualties” at at least two locations in the city.
Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said at a late-night news conference that hundreds of officers were searching for Robert Card, who was identified by police as a person of interest in the shootings. He was considered armed and dangerous.
Sauschuck said “a couple of shooting incidents occurred here with multiple casualties” in Lewiston just after 7 p.m. Eastern. He would not give an exact figure of how many people had been killed.
Maine State Police also referred to “multiple casualties” in an updated statement just after midnight Thursday without providing a number.
U.S. media outlets were reporting conflicting death tolls, citing police sources, all of which were in double digits as of 12 a.m. Eastern Thursday. The Associated Press said at least 16 people were killed, while ABC News put the number at 20. The Sun Journal, Lewiston’s largest newspaper, along with CNN, NBC News and Fox News said as many as 22 were dead. The Sun Journal cited Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson, who told the outlet that the number could rise further.
Global News has not confirmed any details on the number of casualties. The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and the Lewiston Police Department declined to comment when reached by Global News.
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Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that multiple people had also been wounded. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The shootings at a bowling alley and a bar engulfed the state’s second-largest city in chaos. The suspect remained at large as authorities ordered residents and business owners to stay inside and off the streets.
Lewiston Police said in an earlier Facebook post that they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Sparetime Recreation.
“Please stay off the roads to allow emergency responders access to the hospitals,” police said.
On its website, Central Maine Medical Center said staff were “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and were coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients.
A spokesperson for Maine Department of Public Safety urged residents to stay in their homes with their doors locked.
“Law enforcement is currently investigating at two locations right now,” Shannon Moss told the Associated Press. “Again please stay off the streets and allow law enforcement to diffuse the situation.”
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released two photos of the suspect on its Facebook page that showed a gunman walking into an establishment with a weapon raised to his shoulder.
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified shooter points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state’s second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large. (Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Lewiston Police said in a bulletin to law enforcement officials that Card, 40, was a trained firearms instructor who had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023, the Associated Press reported.
Lewiston is part of Androscoggin County and about 35 miles (56 km) north of Maine’s largest city, Portland.
Gov. Janet Mills released a statement echoing police instructions. She said she has been briefed on the situation and will remain in close contact with public safety officials.
U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed and will continue to receive updates, the White House said. Biden later spoke by phone with Mills, Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and local U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and pledged federal support.
King, an independent, said he was “deeply sad for the city of Lewiston and all those worried about their family, friends and neighbors” and was monitoring the situation. King’s office said the senator would be headed directly home to Maine once the Senate’s final vote is held Thursday afternoon.
Collins acknowledged Biden’s pledge of support and said the state “mourns this horrific mass shooting” in a post on social media.
—With files from the Associated Press and Reuters