A US Army reservist accused of shooting up a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, has been found dead after a 48-hour manhunt. This brought communities shocked by the bloodshed back to everyday life, but left many questions unanswered.
The body of Robert R. Card, 40, was found Friday afternoon in a wooded area in the nearby town of Lisbon Falls, not far from where police found his abandoned car shortly after the Wednesday night shooting. , the police said.
Card appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Soschuk told reporters at a late-night briefing. He did not say how long the suspect was believed to be dead or what led authorities to discover his body.
Soschuk said police would have something to say at a news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Saturday.
A total of 18 people were killed and 13 others were wounded in Wednesday night’s massacre, which began when a gunman opened fire with a rifle at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and then fired again minutes later. and a grill restaurant a few kilometers further on.
Authorities have not mentioned a possible motive for the gun violence, nor have they revealed the contents of a note from the gunman that police said they found after the mass shooting.
The shooting and subsequent chase sparked several days of terror for residents of a normally quiet neighborhood in Lewiston, a former textile center and Maine’s second-most populous city. It is located on the banks of the Androscoggin River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of the state’s largest city, Portland.
Many business owners in Lewiston and surrounding communities closed stores immediately after the shooting, and officials closed schools and issued a directive urging the area’s approximately 40,000 residents to stay home as a precaution.
Shelter-in-place orders were lifted Friday night, hours before it was known that Card’s body had been found.
Card, an Army Reserve sergeant from nearby Bowdoin, was described by authorities as a trained firearms instructor who served as a petroleum supply specialist while stationed at a military reserve base in Saco, Maine.
Law enforcement officials also said he had a history of mental illness. In the summer of 2023, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for two weeks.
