At least 22 people were reportedly killed in mass shootings in Lewiston
At least 22 people have been killed in multiple shootings in Lewiston, Maine, City Councilor Robert McCarthy told CNN, citing the city administrator.
At a Wednesday night press conference, Mike Sauschuck, Public Safety Commissioner for the Governor’s Office, said the violence began at about 6:56 p.m.
Fox News and NBC News, also citing law enforcement sources, have also reported at least 22 fatalities. CNN reports that in addition to the fatalities, at least 50 people have been injured in the shootings.
In a Facebook post, the Lewiston Police Department identified a person of interest in the attacks as Robert Card, 40, who is at large and is considered “armed and dangerous.” The department said the shootings occurred at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley.
The Associated Press, citing a state police bulletin, reports the person of interest is a military-trained firearms instructor who had recently been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer.
According to the bulletin, the person of interest had threatened to perpetrate a shooting at a military base in Saco, Maine. The bulletin also says the person of interest had said he’d heard voices.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Sauschuck said of the person of interest, “If people see him, they should not approach card or make contact with him in any way.”
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Sauschuck added that a “vehicle of interest” has been found in the neighboring town of Lisbon, and that Lisbon residents have been advised to shelter in place along with residents of Lewiston.
Sauschuck said a reunification center has been set up at Auburn Middle School, with counselors on hand.
McCarthy told CNN that the area’s two hospitals “have called in every off-duty staff member that they could to deal with this. … Our hospitals are not geared to handle this kind of shooting event. They’re doing the best we can.”
Lewiston police have posted numerous photos of the suspect, who appears to be holding an assault rifle, on the agency’s Facebook page. Police also posted a photo of what they believe to be the suspect’s car.
Nichoel Wyman Arel, an eyewitness, told CNN that she and her daughter were on their way home from a Girl Scouts event when they saw people streaming out of the bowling alley.
“As we were leaving the scene we did see somebody who had blood all over them,” she said.
Her daughter, she said, “was definitely scared. She started crying. She was like, ‘This is a scary world we live in, Mom.'”
Lewiston has a population of about 38,500 and is the second-most populous city in the state after Portland, which sits about 35 miles to the South. It’s the home of Bates College and the Dempsey Center, founded by actor Patrick Dempsey to provide support for people afflicted with ovarian cancer.