On Wednesday, NBC News reported that at least 22 people were killed and 50 to 60 wounded in mass shootings at numerous locations including a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, quoting a Lewiston police source.
The Lewiston Police Department on Facebook identified a person of interest in the mass shooting at the bar and bowling alley as Robert Card, 40, saying he should be “considered armed and dangerous.”
Police earlier posted three photographs of an anonymous suspect telling what seemed to be a semi-automatic rifle, in addition to a photo of a white SUV, asking the public for help in identifying either.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office also posted photos of the suspect, a bearded man in a brown hoodie jacket and jeans holding a rifle in the firing position.
Maine state police said previously on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “There is an active shooter in Lewiston. We ask people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked. Law enforcement is currently investigating at multiple locations.”
Quoting Lewiston police spokesperson, the Sun Journal reported that shootings at three separate businesses: the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley, Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, and a Walmart distribution center.
The bowling alley is about four miles (6.5 km) north of the bar, and the distribution center is about a mile and a half (2.5 km) south of the bar.
The Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston issued a statement saying it was “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and coordinating with area hospitals to take patients.
Lewiston is part of an almost 35 miles (56 km) north of Maine’s largest city, Portland.
Lewiston, a former textile hub and town of 38,000 people in Androscoggin County, is located in southern Maine about midway between the state capital, Augusta, and Portland, the state’s most populated city
President Joe Biden has been reported and will continue to receive updates, a U.S. official said in Washington.
The president spoke by phone individually to Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, and Congressman Jared Golden about the shooting in Lewiston and offered full federal support in the wake of the attack, the White House said.