Lewiston, Maine was left in shock and mourning after a horrific shooting spree on October 25, 2023, left 18 people dead and 13 others injured.
The incident marked a dark day in the history of the United States, as the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history.
The tragedy began at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston, during a youth league event when Robert Card, 40, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, opened fire at approximately 6:56 p.m.
The first emergency calls alerted authorities, and plainclothes officers at a nearby shooting range also responded promptly, arriving within four minutes of the initial call. There were seven victims found dead in the first attack.
The horror did not end there. Just 12 minutes later, at 7:08 p.m., a second shooting incident was reported at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, located 4 miles south of the bowling alley.
Officers arrived at the scene just minutes later, where an additional eight individuals lost their lives, seven inside the building and the eighth outside. Tragically, three injured victims from this location succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with the Maine State Police, initiated an intensive manhunt for the suspect, Card, who had fled the scenes of these horrifying events.
Images of Card inside the bowling alley armed with a “high-powered assault-style rifle” were released to the public, along with an image of his 2013 Subaru Outback, accompanied by a warning to residents that he was “armed and dangerous.”
The Central Maine Medical Center, along with other local hospitals, rushed to coordinate their efforts to treat the victims. Some of the injured were transported to the Maine Medical Center in Portland, the largest hospital in the state.
In the hours following the shootings, police located Card’s abandoned vehicle in Lisbon, a town located 8 miles southeast of Lewiston, along the Androscoggin River.
On October 26, the Maine State Police and Governor Janet Mills confirmed the extent of the tragedy and announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Card, who faced eight counts of murder charges. Authorities also surrounded a house in Bowdoin while executing a search warrant.
On October 27, Michael Sauschuck, public safety commissioner of Maine, revealed that the search for Card included the use of dive teams, sonar, and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) to explore underwater activity near where Card’s vehicle was found in Lisbon.
The evening of October 27 brought the discovery of Card’s body near his former place of employment, a recycling center close to the Androscoggin River in Lisbon.
The recycling center had been searched the previous night, but Card’s body was found in a box truck in an area that had not been previously inspected. His cause of death appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The victims of this tragic event ranged in age from 14 to 76, with a total of 18 people losing their lives, and 13 others suffering injuries.
Among the deceased were four individuals participating in a cornhole tournament for the deaf community. Their identities were officially confirmed on October 27, leaving the entire community and the nation in mourning.
As the nation grapples with yet another heart-wrenching mass shooting, the Lewiston community, the state of Maine, and the entire United States stand together in sorrow and solidarity. Investigations into the motives and circumstances surrounding this appalling act continue, as the nation seeks to understand and address the ongoing issue of gun violence.
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