What we know about the Maine shootings

Follow the latest updates on the search for the suspect in the Shootings in Maine.

An air, land and sea manhunt continued Friday evening for the man suspected of killing 18 people and injuring 13 others Wednesday night at a crowded bowling alley and bar in the Maine town of Lewiston of around 40,000 inhabitants.

Here is what we know about the shooting, the deadliest of the year in the country.

What happened in Lewiston?

On Wednesday around 7 p.m., a gunman opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley. Minutes later, a shooting occurred at Schemengees Bar & Grille, a 12-minute drive away.

Around 8 p.m., authorities released photos of an armed suspect and urged people to stay indoors with their doors locked. Around 9:15 a.m., they posted photos of a vehicle they were looking for, a small white car with a front bumper that might be painted black.

Around 11 p.m., police named Robert R. Card of Bowdoin, Maine, as a person of interest in the shooting, saying he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Maine State Police on Thursday expanded their shelter-in-place advisory for Lewiston, the state’s second-largest city after Portland, to include Bowdoin, about 15 miles away. Classes at Bates College in Lewiston, Lewiston Public Schools and neighboring school districts were canceled Thursday.

What do we know about the victims?

Seven people died at the bowling alley, eight at the bar and three at the hospital, according to Col. William G. Ross of the Maine State Police. Eight of the 18 people killed have been identified so far. The youngest victim was 14 and the oldest was 76, an official with the state medical examiner’s office said Friday.

Dr. John Alexander of Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston said the hospital received 14 victims in 45 minutes Wednesday evening. In addition to the three people who died, three have been discharged and eight remain hospitalized – three in critical condition and five in stable condition.

The mother of a victim who was shot in the bar said the shooting and her son’s death reinforced a belief she’s had for years now: that assault rifles should be banned.

What do we know about the suspect?

Mr. Card, the 40-year-old man wanted in connection with the shooting, is an Army Reserve sergeant first class who enlisted in December 2002, the Army public affairs office said American at the Pentagon.

He trained as a petroleum supply specialist, whose job is to ship and store fuel for vehicles and aircraft. Mr. Card has not served in any combat deployment and is assigned to the Third Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in Saco, Maine, according to an Army spokesperson.

Police investigators were looking into an altercation between Mr. Card and officials during a recent visit to Camp Smith, a National Guard training center not far from West Point, a senior law enforcement official said. laws. The official said Mr. Card was then evaluated at a mental health facility.

What are the gun laws in Maine?

Although it is a largely blue state where Democrats control the governorship and both houses of the state Legislature, Maine has a long history of resistance to drug control measures. fire arms. Much of the state’s political power is rooted in rural communities, where hunting is an integral part of the culture.

According to a 2020 study by the RAND Corporation, 45% of Maine households owned at least one gun between 2006 and 2017, compared to the national average of 32%.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates for stricter gun restrictions, ranks Maine 25th in the nation for the strictness of its gun laws, with laws more permissive than those in Massachusetts, Neighboring Vermont and Connecticut. In the region, only New Hampshire has a lower ranking than Maine.

Maine restricts gun ownership to people who are mentally ill and considered a danger to themselves or others. Instead of a so-called “red flag” law, similar to what many other states have adopted, which allows police or the public to request the temporary removal of a person’s firearms, Maine has a law “yellow flag” with the additional requirement of a medical professional’s opinion.

How did elected officials react?

Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a centrist Democrat and Marine Corps veteran who repeatedly broke with his party to oppose legislation banning assault weapons, reversed his long-held position and called for a ban on assault weapons.

Sen. Susan Collins, a centrist Republican from Maine, has refused to support a ban on assault weapons. Ms. Collins, who last year helped negotiate a compromise measure that ended a decades-long impasse on any legislation to change the nation’s gun laws, instead said lawmakers should consider d ban “very large capacity chargers”.

“There’s always more to do,” she said.

The report was provided by Patricia Mazzei, Nicolas Bogel-Burroughs, Eduardo Medina, John Ismay, Jenny Gross, Glenn Thrush, Michael Corkery And Shaila Dewan.