Eighteen people were killed in an indiscriminate shooting that occurred in Lewiston, Maine, in the northeastern United States, and no suspects were caught until the 26th (local time), the second day of the incident.
According to Reuters, local police are searching forests, waterways, and villages in Maine.
Lewiston, which has a population of 38,000, and surrounding communities closed off streets to allow officers to expand their search after obtaining an arrest warrant for the suspect, 40-year-old Robert Card.
Public schools canceled classes and police closed roads leading to the shooting site. Security guards wearing bulletproof vests guarded the entrance to Central Maine Medical Center, where the shooting victims were taken.
Card, a U.S. Army reserve sergeant who served as a shooting instructor at a nearby unit, was revealed to have been institutionalized in a mental health facility for two weeks last summer.
The U.S. Army stated that Card joined the Army in 2002, had no actual combat experience, and was mainly responsible for oil supply missions. He has been known to have threatened to attack a Maine National Guard base with a firearm in the past.
Police distributed a photo of a bearded suspect armed with a semi-automatic rifle and wearing a brown hoodie and blue jeans.
Janet Mills, governor of Maine, urged caution, saying Card was fleeing while heavily armed.
“We mobilized all state resources, including mental health experts,” he said, explaining that he had two conversations with U.S. President Joe Biden regarding the shooting.
The total population of Maine was about 1.3 million people, so many residents were shocked because it was a place with a low population density and a relatively low crime rate.
In a separate declaration on this day, President Joe Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-mast to commemorate the victims of the shooting.
President Biden issued a statement expressing condolences, saying, “Another senseless and tragic mass shooting has occurred.” He also urged Congress to pass legislation banning high-capacity magazines and other firearms.
Governor Mills also expressed condolences to the victims at the press conference that day, calling it “a dark day for Maine.”
In Maine, where the incident occurred, a 2020 Rand Institute study found that about half of all adults in Maine owned a firearm. Maine has relatively weak gun laws compared to other states. No special permit is required to purchase or possess a firearm.
Additionally, Maine does not have a so-called “red flag” law that would allow people who appear dangerous to petition the court to bar them from possessing firearms.
Suspect Card began shooting at a bowling alley just before 7 p.m. the previous day. There, a woman and six men were shot to death, and about 10 minutes later, Card moved to a nearby bar and shot and killed eight men. Afterwards, three victims who were taken to the hospital died from their injuries.
Doctors at Maine Central Healthcare, which is treating the injured, said they were treating eight survivors, three of whom were in critical condition.
It is reported that no Koreans have been confirmed dead or injured in connection with this incident.
Meanwhile, in Maine, 16 to 29 shooting deaths have occurred every year since 2012. They say the death toll in this incident is similar to the state’s annual shooting death toll.
According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a U.S. non-profit organization, the number of mass shootings (where four or more people are shot) in the U.S. is expected to increase from 647 in 2022 to 679 in 2023.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.