Inside the 24-hour manhunt for the Maine shooting suspect who killed 18

There has been a manhunt for more than 24 hours on Thursday night in Lewiston, Maine, looking for a 40-year-old man who is suspected of mass shootings in a restaurant and a bowling alley. The perpetrator, armed with an AR-15, mercilessly claimed the lives of at least 18 individuals and left 13 wounded on a fateful Wednesday night. An extensive search was conducted on Thursday for Robert Card, an Army reservist with a history of mental health concerns, by hundreds of heavily armed police and FBI agents. In many past US mass shootings, the suspect was found – whether dead or alive – within minutes. But Card was still on the loose more than a day after the shootings. Here’s all you need to know about the manhunt. The suspect’s family is the main focus of the manhunt Much of the search focused on a property belonging to one of Card’s relatives in rural Bowdoin, where trucks and vans full of armed agents from the FBI and other agencies eventually surrounded a home, reported The Associated Press. Card and anyone else inside were repeatedly ordered to surrender. “You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police shouted through a megaphone outside the home owned by the suspect’s relative near Bowdoin. In most instances, when police execute warrants – even for suspects wanted for violent crimes – they move quickly to enter the home. [caption id=“attachment_13304802” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A member of law enforcement walks with a police dog outside a property on Meadow Road, in Bowdoin, Maine. AP[/caption] According to CNN, the FBI employed “dynamic entry” techniques along with flash-bang devices, during their afternoon search. However, hours later, after repeated announcements and a search, authorities left the area. It was still unclear whether Card had ever been at the location, state police said. Richard Goddard, who lives on the road where the search took place, knows the Card family. He told AP that Card, who is four years younger, knows the terrain well. He said, “This is his stomping ground. He grew up here. He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket.” Several homes were being searched, and every lead was pursued in the hunt for Card, a 40-year-old with firearms instructor training. Authorities said he should be considered armed and dangerous and not approached. Towns and waterways being searched The search for Card covered both land and water. The Coast Guard sent out a patrol boat Thursday morning along the Kennebec River, but after hours of searching, they found “nothing out of the ordinary,” said Chief Petty Officer Ryan Smith, who is in charge of the Coast Guard’s Boothbay Harbour Station. A car believed to belong to Card had been discovered by a boat launch in the town of Lisbon near the Androscoggin River, which connects to the Kennebec, and Card’s 15-foot (4.5-meter) boat remains unaccounted for, Smith said. [caption id=“attachment_13304872” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A police officer stands at a road closure near a bowling alley, seen in background in Lewiston, Maine. AP[/caption] A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service. A woman who answered a phone number for one of his relatives said Thursday afternoon the family was helping the FBI. The state is under partial lockdown Schools, doctor’s offices, and grocery stores remained closed, and people stayed behind locked doors in cities as far as 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the scenes of the shootings. In Betes College in Lewiston, students stayed in dorms with the blinds closed, said Diana Florence, whose son is a sophomore. She has a daughter who is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was locked down twice last month for a shooting and a man with a gun. “I could not believe it – that this is happening again. It’s happening to my son after it just happened to my daughter,” she told AP in a phone interview Thursday. Maine’s largest city, Portland, closed its public buildings, while the Canada Border Services Agency issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to its officers stationed along the US border. The deadliest mass shooting The attack started at Just-In-Time Recreation, where a children’s bowling league was taking place, before 7 pm Wednesday. Less than 15 minutes later, numerous 911 calls started coming in from Schemengees Bar and Grille, a few miles away. Three of the 13 people wounded in the shootings were in critical condition and five were hospitalised but stable, Central Maine Medical Centre officials said. The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022. The latest shootings were the 36th mass killing in America this year, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Eight murder warrants were issued for Card after authorities identified eight of the victims, police said. [caption id=“attachment_13304832” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, a gunman points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine. AP[/caption] Ten more will likely be issued once the names of the rest of the dead are confirmed, said Maine State Police Col. William Ross. According to CNN, law enforcement officials previously confirmed that the 40-year-old also threatened to shoot up a National Guard base in Maine. As per the report, except for an arrest in 2007 for alleged driving under the influence charge, the suspect is not known to ATF or in FBI holdings. He legally possesses multiple weapons and owns a home on hundreds of acres of land in Maine, the outlet quoted its sources as saying. Additionally, according to the Portland Press Herald, the US Army has confirmed that Card is a petroleum supply specialist who enlisted in 2002 and has not been deployed in combat. Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee said Card’s rank in the army is Sgt. 1st Class. The report said, “Dubee said Card has received awards for his service, including the Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, National Defence Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon.” Maine’s no-permit-for-guns policy Maine is one of about 20 states that doesn’t require permits to carry guns. It has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its tradition of hunting and sport shooting. Keeping in mind the strong support for gun rights, lawmakers passed a “yellow flag” law in 2019 that would require police to seek a medical evaluation of anyone believed to be dangerous before then trying to take their guns away. However, critics charged that it was a weaker version of the tougher “red flag” laws that many other states have adopted. At a news conference, the Lewiston shootings prompted Democratic US Republican Jared Golden in Maine to apologise for opposing a ban on assault weapons in the past. He urged Congress to pass such a law. “I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime,” he said, adding, “The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure.” Vice President Kamala Harris said gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the US and also called on Congress to pass stronger laws, including making background checks universal, passing a red flag law and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. “It is a false choice to suggest we must choose between either upholding the Second Amendment or passing reasonable gun safety laws to save lives,” Harris said in a statement. On Thursday, Maine authorities vowed to try pushing for stronger laws again. At a minimum, the Maine Gun Safety Coalition wants the state to ban assault weapons to prevent more mass shootings, said Cam Shannon, the group’s chair. With inputs from The Associated Press