Arrest warrant issued for suspect after 18 killed in shooting rampage in Maine as manhunt continues, officials say

Lewiston, Maine (CNN) — Eighteen people have been killed and 13 injured in a shooting rampage at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday, as a furious manhunt continues – with schools shuttered and people warned to stay indoors – for the assailant.

An arrest warrant for multiple counts of murder has been issued for suspect Robert Card, 40, Maine State Police Col. William Ross said during a Thursday news conference. He “should be considered armed and dangerous,” officials said.

Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserves, law enforcement officials in Maine told CNN. He had recently threatened to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said.

Some in the area are waking up Thursday to officers with long guns scouring their neighborhoods.

“Nerves are rattled right now – keeping an eye on the woods,” said Cory, a resident of nearby Lisbon, Maine, whose 10-year-old daughter was inside his home. “That actually made me feel better. Seeing the cops coming around here, that makes me feel a million times better.

“In the situation like this,” he told CNN, “I wish I had a firearm.”

Anyone who sees Card should not approach him “or make contact with him in any way,” Maine’s Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said late Wednesday.

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At least 16 people are dead, law enforcement officials told CNN, in what appears to be the deadliest mass shooting of 2023 in the United States, adding to a grim docket of 565 such incidents reported this year across the country, with four or more shot excluding the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy has backed off his assertion to CNN on air Wednesday night of a “confirmed” death toll of 22, now calling it “unconfirmed.” Law enforcement has not addressed the death toll on the record.

“It’s so surreal,” McCarthy said. “You just see it on the news and you say, ‘That’s never gonna happen here,’ and then it happens here, and it just blows your mind.”

Dozens more were injured, though it wasn’t immediately clear how many were hurt due to gunfire, the law enforcement sources told CNN.

By Thursday morning, the entire Lisbon Police Departure had been called in to hunt for the shooter and make sure businesses are closed, Chief Ryan McGee said.

“Right now, this is an active scene in Lisbon,” he told reporters.

Major Northeast grocery chain Hannaford Supermarkets is keeping all its Maine stores closed at least until 10 a.m., the company said. And public schools in Lewiston and Portland – the state’s largest district, with about 6,500 students – are closed, officials have said.

People in nearby Bowdoin, Maine, were advised early Thursday the shelter in place advisory and school closings would include their town, Maine State Police announced: “Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings.”

“We want to locate the individual, make sure our community’s kept safe,” McGee said, “so biggest thing I can say is make sure that if the community sees anything, stay inside, don’t approach, call the police department – just like we did here just here. Someone heard something, they called: It’s the right thing to do.”

The rampage began shortly before 7 p.m. and fueled calls for everyone in Lewiston to shelter in place as hundreds of officers searched for the gunman. Lewiston police shared images of a man walking into what appears to be a bowling alley holding a high-powered, assault-style rifle.

The active shooting incidents were reported at Just-in-Time Recreation, a bowling alley on Mollison Way, and about 4 miles away at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street, Lewiston Police said. Authorities initially identified the bowling alley by its prior name, Sparetime Recreation.

People ran away from Just-in-Time Recreation as police cruisers responded to the scene, video obtained by CNN shows. A person on a stretcher was loaded into an ambulance, another video from outside the bowling alley shows.

Central Maine Medical Center was “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event,” and coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients, it said.

“There are multiple scenes in the city to include multiple hospitals, multiple follow ups, a lot of witnesses we’re speaking with and a lot of leads,”  Sauschuck  said. “The general public has been very cooperative, and very forthcoming with information.”

A “vehicle of interest” was found Wednesday night 8 miles from Lewiston in the town of Lisbon, prompting shelter-in-place-orders for that area as well, Sauschuck said.

Lewiston police earlier had shared an image of a small, white SUV with a front bumper that was believed to be painted black. Maine State Police confirmed to CNN the image is of the person of interest’s car.

President Joe Biden has spoken by phone with Maine lawmakers and “offered full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,” the White House said in a statement.

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline is “heartbroken for our city and our people,” he said. “Lewiston is known for our strength and grit and we will need both in the days to come.”

“Both of these locations last night are family locations,” Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President Shanna Cox said Thursday as the community awaited work on the slain and injured. “It was family league activity at the bowling alley. The likeliness of this having direct impact for so many here is so real.”

Auburn, Maine, Mayor Jason Levesque lost friends in the shooting, he told “CNN This Morning.” And a teenager who went to school with his son was shot and is expected to recover, he said.

“There’s going to be very few people in this community that have not been touched by this,” he said. “It’s going to be with me for the rest of my life, and it’s really hard for me to explain that.”

Counselors, local clergy and state police representatives were at the reunification center in his city, less than 2 miles west of Lewiston, Levesque said.

“The other folks that I knew that were there either as witnesses or family members of witnesses; it’s obviously traumatic,” Levesque said. “The bright spot was seeing individuals reunified with their loved ones after not knowing for so long, but on the on the other side, the ones that were waiting and waiting, probably would never be reunified.”

“My heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words. In a split second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason,” Schemengees said in a Facebook post. “We loss great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out prayers to everyone.”

Just-In-Time Recreation is “devastated for our community and our staff. We lost some amazing and whole hearted people from our bowling family and community last night,” it said in a statement on Facebook. “There are no words to fix this or make it better.

“Stay close to your loved ones. Embrace them,” Lewiston Public Schools said in a post. “Our prayers go out to those who lost someone tonight. Our prayers go out to all those working to stop further loss of life.”

People ran out of bowling alley