Divers Will Search River as Manhunt for Maine Shooter Continues
Officials in Maine provided an update on the manhunt for Lewiston mass shooting suspect Robert Card Friday morning, with the investigation focusing on the nearby Androscoggin River.
Following the Wednesday night shootings that have killed 18 people so far, a vehicle belonging to Card was found near a Lisbon, Maine, dock where he owned a small boat. As Maine Department of Public Safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck told the press Friday, “We will be putting divers in the water… There’s gonna be some sonar as well.”
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Sauschuck added that air units would also assist in the search for evidence and that just because investigators were on the river, “I’m not saying we know the suspect is in the water.” A local power company that operates dams in the area are also assisting in the investigation, lowering the river’s water level and slowing its current.
During a lengthy search of one of Card’s former residencies Thursday, investigators uncovered what was reportedly a “suicide note.” On Friday, Sauschuck confirmed that a note was found but did not specify its contents.
“There was a note at one of these residences. I’m not permitted to really talk about what that included,” Sauschuck said. “When we can release it, we certainly will.”
At least 18 people were shot and killed, and 13 more injured, during a rampage at Schemengees Bar and the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston.
Police later identified Card, 40, as a person of interest. Authorities said Card had been trained as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility in Maine. The bulletin said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not elaborate on the type of treatment he received but reportedly said Card reported hearing voices and had threatened to carry out a shooting at the military training base in Saco, Maine.
At a press conference Thursday morning, officials announced that eight of the 18 victims had been identified and their families notified; as a result, Card faces an arrest warrant for eight counts of murder, with 10 more counts pending identification of the remaining victims.
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