https://sputnikglobe.com/20231027/manhunt-for-suspected-maine-gunman-shifts-to-underwater-searches-by-officials-1114540783.html
Manhunt for Suspected Maine Gunman Shifts to Underwater Searches by Officials
Manhunt for Suspected Maine Gunman Shifts to Underwater Searches by Officials
Sputnik International
The Maine State Police dive team are heading an underwater investigation as a manhunt for the Lewiston suspect Robert Card, 40, drags into a third day.
2023-10-27T23:05+0000
2023-10-27T23:05+0000
2023-10-27T23:05+0000
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The Maine State Police dive team are heading an underwater investigation as a manhunt for the Lewiston suspect Robert Card, 40, drags into a third day.The shooting suspect’s car, a white Subaru Outback, was found abandoned near a boat launch along the Androscoggin river in Lisbon, Maine. Mike Sauschuck, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, said on Friday that divers will be “checking for evidence” and “potential bodies.”Sauschuck added that sonar technology will be used to aid the search, and that the local power company that operates the two dams on the river will try and lower the current to make it easier for divers to navigate the waterway.The US Coast Guard crews out of Boothbay Harbor were also searching for a 15-foot lake boat owned by Card. According to reports, Card owned more than one boat.Card’s cellphone was also discovered, according to two law enforcement officials. It’s speculated that discovering the device will likely make the manhunt that much more difficult, as they are often used as tracking devices in searches.Maine is a densely-forested state, with 90% of the state being covered by trees. The Androscoggin River, which connects to the Kennebec River, is also more than 170 miles long. The city of Lewiston is also located less than four hours from the Canadian border, while the entire state shares 18 official entry points with New Brunswick, Canada, and another six with Quebec.On Thursday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said they were working closely with law enforcement in both the US and in Canada to “ensure the safety and security of Canadians and protect Canada’s borders against any threat or (attempted) illegal entry.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on that same day that the federal government was working to provide support whenever necessary.Jacqueline Roby, a CBSA senior spokesperson, added that the agency had issued an “Armed & Dangerous - Firearms lookout” alert to border officers.It was reported that a high-powered weapon was also found in the car that Card had abandoned, though it is unknown if it was the weapon used in the shooting. The gun was purchased legally. Federal agents also reportedly found a suicide note within Card’s home that was addressed to his son. It has been speculated by the media that this may be a suicide note.According to Card’s sister-in-law, Katie Card, the 40-year-old suspect had been “humiliated” by voices he was hearing: “He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she recalled.Richard Goddard, a neighbor of Robert Card, said he had heard that Card had spent time at Togus VA Medical Center in the state’s capital. Togus is a health center that assists veterans with physical and mental health ailments. Card is a military reservist and had a history of mental health issues, according to records.Card had previously threatened to shoot up a military base in Saco, according to law enforcement. He was then committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer. Card had no combat deployments, according to a US Army spokesperson.Maine’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that all 18 people killed had been identified. US media reported that the ages of those who were killed ranged from 14 to 76. A majority of those killed were male.Maine has a “yellow flag” law that allows law enforcement to take guns away from people who may be in danger of hurting themselves or others. The law was first implemented in 2019. Maine, a hunter and sport shooting state, does not require permits to carry guns. In the year of 2022 alone, the state had experienced just 29 homicides.“Our gun laws are woefully weak,” said Cam Shannon, chair of the nonprofit Maine Gun Safety Coalition. “We have long felt that this is a question of not if, but when.”
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maine manhunt, suspected gunman, underwater searches, maine state police, robert card
Manhunt for Suspected Maine Gunman Shifts to Underwater Searches by Officials
The search for Card, the suspect in the deadliest shooting for the US this year, has involved hundreds of state and local officers and at least 80 FBI agents. Residents of a typically peaceful, rural state are sheltering in place as the manhunt for the veteran remains ongoing.
The Maine State Police dive team are heading an underwater investigation as a manhunt for the Lewiston suspect Robert Card, 40, drags into a third day.
The shooting suspect’s car, a white Subaru Outback, was found abandoned near a boat launch along the Androscoggin river in Lisbon, Maine. Mike Sauschuck, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, said on Friday that divers will be “checking for evidence” and “potential bodies.”
"There will be a lot of activity in the water today," Sauschuck said. "The river is a big piece of this."
Sauschuck added that sonar technology will be used to aid the search, and that the local power company that operates the two dams on the river will try and lower the current to make it easier for divers to navigate the waterway.
An arrest warrant was issued for Card, who is from Bowdoin, Maine, following a mass shooting that left at least 18 dead and another 13 injured. Card opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle in two different locations in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday. The initial shooting unfolded at the bowling alley Just-In-Time Recreation, with the second at the Schemengees Bar & Grille, an eatery four miles away.
The warrant was issued on eight counts of murder, though the total number of counts may rise as more people are identified, said Operations Major for the Maine State Police Colonel William Ross.
The US Coast Guard crews out of Boothbay Harbor were also searching for a 15-foot lake boat owned by Card. According to reports, Card owned more than one boat.
Card’s cellphone was also discovered, according to two law enforcement officials. It’s speculated that discovering the device will likely make the manhunt that much more difficult, as they are often used as tracking devices in searches.
Maine is a densely-forested state, with 90% of the state being covered by
trees. The Androscoggin River, which connects to the Kennebec River, is also more than 170 miles long. The city of Lewiston is also located less than four hours from the Canadian border, while the entire state shares 18 official entry points with New Brunswick, Canada, and another six with Quebec.
On
Thursday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said they were working closely with law enforcement in both the US and in Canada to “ensure the safety and security of Canadians and protect Canada’s borders against any threat or (attempted) illegal entry.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on that same day that the federal government was working to provide support whenever necessary.
“Our thoughts go out to our friends in Maine and neighbors in Maine who are suffering a terrible, terrible moment right now,” he said. “Of course, we have been engaged with our border services agencies and with appropriate police forces to ensure extra protections for Canadians.”
Jacqueline Roby, a CBSA senior spokesperson, added that the agency had issued an “Armed & Dangerous - Firearms lookout” alert to border officers.
26 October 2023, 22:55 GMT
It was reported that a high-powered weapon was also found in the car that Card had abandoned, though it is unknown if it was the weapon used in the shooting. The gun was purchased legally. Federal agents also reportedly found a suicide note within Card’s home that was addressed to his son. It has been speculated by the media that this may be a
suicide note.
According to Card’s sister-in-law,
Katie Card, the 40-year-old suspect had been “humiliated” by voices he was hearing:
“He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she recalled.Richard Goddard, a neighbor of Robert Card, said he had heard that Card had spent time at Togus VA Medical Center in the state’s capital. Togus is a health center that assists veterans with physical and mental health ailments. Card is a military reservist and had a history of mental health issues, according to records.
Card had previously threatened to shoot up a military base in Saco, according to law enforcement. He was then committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer. Card had no combat deployments, according to a US Army spokesperson.
“It happened. He went and did what he said he was gonna do. It doesn’t make any sense why that wasn’t addressed before the fact that it was actually capable of happening,” said Goddard.
26 October 2023, 14:33 GMT
Maine’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that all 18 people killed had been
identified. US media reported that the ages of those who were killed ranged from 14 to 76. A majority of those killed were male.
The shooting, in a state with relatively low violence rates, is now the deadliest shooting in the US for the year of 2023, and is the eight deadliest since 2006.
It is the deadliest shooting for a state in which half of documented households have guns, but where few fatal shootings take place. In a report from the summer of 2022, Michael Rocque, a criminologist at Bates College and a resident of Maine, said the state was “lucky” that it had yet to see a high-profile mass shooting.
Maine has a “yellow flag” law that allows law enforcement to take guns away from people who may be in danger of hurting themselves or others. The law was first implemented in 2019. Maine, a hunter and sport shooting state, does not require permits to carry guns. In the year of 2022 alone, the state had experienced just 29
homicides.
“Our gun laws are woefully weak,” said Cam Shannon, chair of the nonprofit Maine Gun Safety Coalition. “We have long felt that this is a question of not if, but when.”
