On Day 2 of multistate search for mass killing suspect, Maine residents shelter behind locked doors

By DAVID SHARP, PATRICK WHITTLE, HOLLY RAMER and MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Police asked thousands of Maine residents to stay in their homes Friday as heavily armed local and federal law enforcement agents searched for a second day for an Army reservist who they say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in the worst mass killing in state history.

Nearly two days after the shooting, police have given no indication that they have any leads about the suspect, Robert Card's whereabouts. During a lengthy news conference absent of any major developments, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck would only say that authorities are leaving all their options open.

"We're going to be all over the place," Sauschuck said. "That's not saying that we know that the individual is in this house, you know, in that house or they're in that swath of land, this acreage."
Investigators found a note at a home associated with Card on Thursday that was addressed to his son, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

The officials described it as a suicide note but said it didn't provide any specific motive for the shooting.

Card's cellphone had also been recovered in the home, the official said, making a search more complicated because authorities routinely use phones to track suspects, the officials said.

They were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Previously, police had said that Card had left his car at a boat ramp in the town of Lisbon shortly after the shootings Wednesday evening. Sauschuck said Friday that authorities were going to conduct extensive searches of the nearby Androscoggin River by air and boat, and that a utility was using its dams to lower the river in the area, but he made it clear that would not be their only area of focus.

The Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbors said, and various members of the Card family own hundreds of acres in the area.

"This is his stomping ground," Richard Goddard, who lives the road where the search took place, said of the suspect. "He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket."

Authorities say Card, 40, who has firearms training, opened fire with at least one rifle at a bar and a bowling alley Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine's second-largest city about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Bowdoin.

The attack left 18 people dead and 13 wounded, three of whom were hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. Card will be charged with 18 counts of murder once all the victims are identified, authorities said.

The victims of the shootings include 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 going after the shooter with a butcher knife.

Peyton Brewer-Ross was a dedicated pipefitter at Bath Iron Works whose death leaves a gaping void in the lives of his partner, young daughter and friends, members of his union said.

The manager of the youth bowling league vowed that the league would survive despite the devastating grief members were feeling.

Police asked residents to continue to stay home in Lewiston and nearby communities Friday. Schools, public buildings and many businesses remained closed. Bates College in Lewiston canceled classes Friday and postponed the inauguration of the school's first Black president.

In close by Sabattus, cashiers at a gas station told their customers "have a good day and go home."

Authorities acknowledged the difficulty of having residents stay home a second day, but Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre asked for patience and promised they were constantly evaluating the request.

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.

As authorities searched for Card, details about his recent behavior emerged. He underwent a mental health evaluation in mid-July after he began acting erratically while with his reserve regiment, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

A neighbor, Dave Letarte, said Card's family let them deer hunt on their property and were kind, although Letarte said he noticed Card appeared to have mental problems for a while.

"People have problems, but you don't expect them to go off the deep end like that," Letarte said. "When we saw it on the news last night, I was shocked."

Neighbors said the Cards owned the local sawmill, and that years ago a member of the Card family donated the land for a local church.

A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service. A woman who answered a phone number for one of Card's relatives on Thursday afternoon said the family was helping the FBI. She didn't give her name or additional details.

Police were sorting through at least 530 tips since the shootings. Crime scene technicians were still gathering evidence at the bar and bowling alley. Dozens of officers spent Thursday at the Card family land. After several hours they left with state police saying it was unclear whether the suspect had ever been at the location.

At Friday's briefing, Maine's top police officer refused to say how long it took police to arrive after the shootings were reported or whether investigators have any idea of where Card might be or if he is still alive.

"We want to make sure that we bring this individual into custody but we got to do it right," Sauschuck said.

In many past U.S. mass shootings, the suspect was found — whether dead or alive — within minutes. But Card was still on the loose more than a full day after the shootings.

Authorities have not said how many guns were used or how they were obtained.

The attack started at Just-In-Time Recreation, where a children's bowling league was taking place, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Less than 15 minutes later, numerous 911 calls started coming in from Schemengees Bar and Grille a few miles away.

The shootings mark 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.