A huge search operation is underway involving hundreds of police officers to track down a gunman who has shot and killed at least 22 people and injured more than 50.
Terrified residents have been told to stay in their homes as authorities hunt down a suspect identified as Robert Card, aged 40, who is believed to have started shooting around 7pm on Wednesday at a restuarant and bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
It’s thought the contronversial AR-15 assault rifle was used in the killings.
Card is considered “armed and dangerous” and described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.
A document, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023.
It did not provide details about his treatment or condition but said Card had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
Lewiston Police said in an earlier Facebook post that they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley about four miles way.
Lewiston, a town of around 38,000 people, is now on lockdown with local schools all closed for Thursday. Billie Jayne Cooke told the BBC she had been leaving an event as details of the shooting emerged.
She said: “Helicopters, sirens, I’ve never heard so much activity in my life in this city. We have police from all over the state, from out of the state, coming up.
“The whole city’s on lockdown. It’s horrible. You just don’t think that’s ever going to happen and it did.”
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