Authorities scoured the woods and hundreds of acres of family-owned property, sent dive teams with sonar to the bottom of a river and scrutinized a possible suicide note Friday in the second day of their intensive search for an Army reservist accused of fatally shooting 18 people and wounding 13 in Maine.
Authorities lifted their shelter-in-place order Friday evening, nearly 48 hours after the shootings.
The names and pictures of the 16 males and two females who died were released as State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck asked for a moment of silence at a news conference. Their ages ranged from 14 to 76.
Law enforcement officials said they had not seen the suspected gunman since his vehicle was left at a boat ramp Wednesday shortly after the shootings. Sauschuck didn’t say if they had any indication the suspect was alive or dead, only that investigators were leaving all options open.
Authorities said Robert Card, 40, who has firearms training, opened fire at a bar and a bowling alley Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city.
The city held an online vigil Friday night with local clergy members, prayer and music. Residents expressed their shock and pain in chat postings, describing themselves as angry, grieving, tired and heartbroken. Those watching at home were urged to light candles.
Police and other law enforcement officers were spotted in several areas around the region Friday. Divers searched the water near a boat launch in Lisbon and a farming business in the same town. At points throughout the day, police vehicles were seen speeding through several towns, lights flashing and sirens blaring.
A gun was found in Card’s car, which was discovered at the boat ramp, and federal agents were testing it to determine if it was used in the shootings, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Authorities have said publicly that the shooter used at least one rifle. They have not released any other details, including how the suspect obtained the firearm.
The Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbors said, and various members of the family own hundreds of acres in the area. The family owned the local sawmill and years ago donated the land for a local church.
“This is his stomping ground,” Richard Goddard, who lives on the road where a search took place on Thursday, said of the suspect. “He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket.”
The victims of the shootings included Bob Violette, 76, a retiree who was coaching a youth bowling league and was described as devoted, approachable and kind. Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker told news outlets that his son, Joe, a manager at the bar and grill, died after he tried to stop the gunman.
The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf said the shootings killed at least four members of its community, many of whom were ardent advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing.
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. Governor Janet Mills said Friday that many Maine residents will know someone who died.
“It is often said that our state is ‘one big small town’ because Maine is such a close-knit community. As a result, many of us know the victims personally, including me,” she said in a statement. “Tonight, I ask Maine people to join me in reading their stories, learning who they were, celebrating them as beloved people and mourning them as irreplaceable.”
While the shelter-in-place order was lifted, authorities did ban hunting in Lewiston and three nearby towns on Saturday, which is “Maine Resident Only Day” and serves as the kickoff to the busiest stretch of the state’s popular deer hunting season.
The shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
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