Morning light illuminated an eerie quiet in Androscoggin County, Maine, Thursday morning as residents largely kept to a shelter in place order after a gunman opened fire in two Lewiston locations, killing 18 people and wounded 13 others
It was a scenario Maine’s second largest city could barely fathom: The state saw just 29 murders in all of 2022.
Law enforcement was conducting a manhunt for a military firearms instructor they called a “person of interest” in the shootings at Lewiston’s Just-in-Time Recreation — a bowling alley previously known as Sparetime Recreation where families with children were gathered for league play — and Schemengees Bar & Grill about four miles away.
State officials identified Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin as that person of interest. Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, said Card’s white Subaru Outback was found Wednesday night in Lisbon, about eight miles from Lewiston, several hours after the shooting started just before 7 p.m., as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson said seven people were found dead at the bowling alley and an unknown number of people killed at Schemengees. Samson said that there were people gunned down as they fled the scene. But Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, declined to provide casualty numbers at a late night news conference.
“There’s been a lot of numbers all over the map all evening, and I don’t think that’s helpful,” he said, adding that he did not have a firm number.
Shelter in place orders were activated in Lewiston, Lisbon, and Bowdoin as dozens of law enforcement agents both searched for Card and began their investigation into the shootings. Meanwhile, residents whose loved ones were in one of the two shooting locations flocked to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for news.
A bowler who spoke with The Associated Press said he thought the first shots were balloons popping.
“I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon — he was holding a weapon — I just booked it,” the man, who identified himself only as Brandon, said.
Brandon said he scrambled down the lane and climbed into the pin mechanism to hide.
Ten=year-old Zoey Levesque, at the bowling alley with her mother for a children’s league and was grazed by a bullet, said the situation was “scary.”
“I had never thought I’d grow up and get a bullet in my leg,” she said. “And it’s just like, why? Why do people do this?”
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The bowling alley posted on Facebook that it was “devastated for our community and our staff.”
“We lost some amazing and whole hearted people from our bowling family and community last night. There are no words to fix this or make it better,” the establishment said. “We praying for everyone who has been affected by this horrific tragedy. We love you all and hold you close in our hearts.”
Schemengees also commented on Facebook, with the poster saying, “My heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words.”
” In a split second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason,” the poster said. “We lost great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out prayers to everyone.”
Multiple businesses and schools announced they would be closed on Thursday.
While DPS Commissioner Saushuck declined to provide information about Card, the person of interest, the Associated Press did, reporting the contents of a police bulletin it said was circulated among law enforcement. The bulletin said Card was trained as a firearms instructor at a US Army Reserve training facility in Maine and was recently committed to a mental health facility. The document said Card reported hearing voices and had threatened to carry out a shooting at a training base in Saco, Maine.
Another news conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
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[Featured image: Robert Card/Lewiston Police Department]
