A two-day manhunt for the Lewiston mass shooting suspect that killed 18 people and injured 13 more Wednesday was “extensive” and “non-stop” as it spread across multiple towns in Maine, as described by law enforcement officials.
It ended at 7:45 p.m. Friday, when suspect Robert Card, 40, was found dead near Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls. Police were searching the area on Friday after a car believed to belong to Card was discovered at a boat launch there on Wednesday, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael J. Sauschuck said.
He did not give an exact location of where Card’s body was found Friday.
“Our reality here is that this search has been extensive. It’s been thorough. It’s been non-stop since the minute we started speaking with you and long before that,” Sauschuck told reporters during a press conference late Friday night.
Multiple towns had a shelter-in-place for days, with businesses and schools being required to close.
Officials had been searching various areas around Maine for the suspect for the past two days after the shootings at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, previously known as Sparetime Recreation, and Schemengees Bar and Grille’s, four miles away in Lewiston. Sauschuck previously told reporters they were not giving up searching.
“We are on 24-7, and we will be until the suspect in this case is brought to justice,” Sauschuck said.
Heart-shaped cut-outs with messages of positivity adorns trees in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. The signs are some of the 100 hearts put up by Miaa Zellner of Turner, Maine, to show her love and support for the community in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shootings.AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
On Friday, Sauschuck said divers would comb that area of the water, and investigators would deploy a remote-operated sonar device to scan the riverbed for evidence. Police would also search along the shoreline for signs of their missing suspect.
The river represents only one of the many locations Sauschuck said police would examine on Friday.
The night before, police surrounded a home in the town of Bowdoin, where Card was from, and broadcast messages over loudspeakers, ordering Card and anyone inside to surrender. But after later departing the property, officials said the announcements did not indicate Card was in the home as some had assumed.
“It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes law enforcement will search,” the Maine State Police said in a statement. “Law enforcement officials are simply doing their due diligence by tracking down every lead in an effort to locate and apprehend Card.”
The announcements, Sauschuck explained, were protocol.
“So if you hear announcements in PA systems as an example, a piece of that is us just giving notification that yes in fact we are the police. We are going to be knocking on this door. We would like you to come out if you’re in there,” Sauschuck said. “Some of that is case law oriented. Some of that is best practice, and some of that is just standard operating procedures from our end.”
Authorities were also continuing to process the two crime scenes on Friday.
“We’re going to be processing every square inch of these facilities,” Sauschuck said. That meant examining every bullet fired, every spent cartridge and every vehicle in the parking lot.
Officials also received more than 530 tips and leads looked into by local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies from the general public and several communities, Sauschuck said.
Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre and Sauschuck said the FBI has been involved, interviewing witnesses as part of law enforcement’s investigation.
“Initially, that first night, we had 70 or so witnesses. The FBI has been incredibly helpful with things that may sound as simple as, ‘You’ve got to transcribe 70-plus witness statements.’ They’re bringing a lot of resources to play,” Sauschuck said.
A sign in the door of Eventide Oyster Co. on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, advises clients that the popular seafood restaurant in Portland, Maine, will be closed as staff await more information about the shooting that left several people dead at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston. (AP Photo/Jake Bleiberg)AP
After Card’s body was found, Maine Gov. Janet Mills acknowledged that simply finding the suspected killer would not provide closure for the horrific mass killing. But she focused on Lewiston’s “close knit community.”
“Lewiston is a special place,” Mills said. “This isn’t us. Lewiston is a great place. It’s a close knit community of fine people, people with a long history — a history of hard work, of a personal sense of faith, of opening its big heart to people everywhere.”
She hopes people can start moving forward.
“Tonight, the city of Lewiston and the state of Maine begin to move forward on what will be a long and difficult road to healing,” Mills said. “We will heal together.”
The names and photos of the 18 people killed in the mass shooting were made public Friday.
The youngest was 14-year-old Aaron Young who was bowling with his father William A. Young, who also died.
“If anyone ever needed anything, Bill and his wife were the first to lend a hand. I couldn’t have asked for a better big brother,” the GoFundMe, created by Bill Young’s brother and Aaron Young’s uncle, Rob Young, read.
The names and photos of the 18 people killed in the mass shooting were made public Friday. The youngest was 14-year-old Aaron Young who was bowling with his father William A. Young, who also died.Maine State Police
Here are the names of the 18 people killed:
- Ronald G. Morin, 55
- Peyton-Brewer Ross, 40
- Joshua A. Seal, 36
- Bryan M. MacFarlane, 41
- Joseph Lawrence Walker, 57
- Arthur Fred Strout, 42
- Maxx A. Hathaway, 35
- Stephen M. Vozzella, 45
- Thomas Ryan Conrad, 34
- Michael R. Deslauriers II, 51
- Jason Adam Walker, 51
- Tricia C. Asselin, 53
- William A. Young, 44
- Aaron Young, 14
- Robert E. Violette, 76
- Lucilla M. Violette, 73
- William Frank Brackett, 48
