'Time to Heal': State Officials Confirm Maine Shooting Suspect Found Dead
02:18 GMT 28.10.2023 (Updated: 02:45 GMT 28.10.2023)
© AFP 2023 / ANGELA WEISS
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Earlier unconfirmed reports indicated that the body of the gunman, identified as Robert Card, had been found near the Lisbon, Maine, woods in an area near a recycling center that the suspect had recently been fired.
The Maine mass shooting suspect was found dead following a dayslong manhunt, state officials confirmed late Friday.
Maine Governor Janet Mills detailed during a Friday news conference that the suspected shooter is "no longer a threat," adding that she informed US President Joe Biden and the state's congressional delegation of the development.
"Now is the time to heal," Mills said. "With this search concluded, I know that law enforcement continues to fully investigate all the facts so we can bring what closure we can to the victims and their families."
Michael Sauschuck, Maine's commissioner of Public Safety, did not disclose how the suspected gunman was found, but did indicate the body was discovered at 7:45 p.m. local time near the Androscoggin river, in Lisbon, Maine. Sauschuck confirmed earlier reports that the gunman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
(FILES) Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck speaks to the press during a press conference at Lewiston City Hall in Lewiston, Maine, under a picture of suspect Robert Card on October 27, 2023. The suspect in a mass shooting in the US state of Maine has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, US media reported October 27, 2023, after an intense manhunt that lasted more than two days. Details were not immediately known, but authorities in Maine called a news conference for 10 pm (0200 GMT).
© AFP 2023 / ANGELA WEISS
An intensive manhunt for the Maine mass shooting suspect, Robert Card, came to a grim end days after the shooting took place on Wednesday night. The search required hundreds of state and local officers and at least 80 FBI agents.
Card’s vehicle, a white Subaru Outback, was first found abandoned near a boat launch along the Androscoggin river, in Lisbon. A gun had also been found in the abandoned vehicle. Authorities had carried out a search for evidence of Card, as well as a potential body along the river. The Maine State Police earlier employed a dive team, as well as sonar technology, to search the body of water, as Card was known to have owned more than one boat or vessel.
At the time of the search, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) also reported that they were paying close attention to the US-Canadian border. The state of Maine has more than 20 entry points to Canada. The rural state is also densely frosted with 90% of its land being covered by trees, which likely hampered efforts in the manhunt.
26 October 2023, 14:33 GMT
Card, 40, was suspected of carrying out a mass shooting in which at least 18 people were killed and another 13 injured. Card first opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at a local bowling alley, and then at a local eatery just four miles away. Card had a history of mental health issues, and had reportedly threatened to carry out a shooting in the past. The gun found in his abandoned vehicle was purchased legally.
The victims in the shooting, according to a social media post made by US Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), include two women and one child, the other deceased victims were adult men. The child, 14, was killed alongside his father. A married couple were also killed in the shooting.
During a Thursday briefing, US Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) questioned why Maine’s “yellow flag” law was not triggered. The law allows Maine police to temporarily take away a person’s firearms if deemed a danger to themself or others. The law was first passed in 2019 and invoked at least 24 times in the state.
Collins, who supports the law, said it should have prevented the Lewiston shooting. Card has been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer, per a Maine law enforcement bulletin. Card had been hearing voices and threatened to shoot up a military base in Saco.
