2023-10-28 03:21:03
The perpetrator of the Maine massacre was found dead by the Police.
The main suspect in the two shootings that claimed the lives of 18 people in the US city of Lewiston (Maine) on Wednesday, Robert Card, was found dead this Friday by authorities with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to reports. confirmed Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
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“I breathe a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” said the state governor, Janet Mills, during a press conference called to give an update on the case. “I know that authorities continue to thoroughly investigate all the facts so that we can get what closure we can for the victims and their families,” she added.
Sauschuck indicated that the body of the perpetrator of the massacre was found at 7:45 p.m., local time, near the Androscoggin River. However, he declined to provide a specific address.
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The commissioner explained that before making the news public, the families of the 18 dead and also that of the suspect were notified.
“All we can confirm is that he has died and there will be a press release,” said a spokeswoman for the police department in the neighboring city of Lisbon.
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Card’s body was found near a recycling center, from which he had recently been fired, according to information from CNN.
Card’s body was found near a recycling center, from which he had recently been fired.
This discovery puts an end to two days of tension in Lewiston and neighboring cities, where a large part of the citizens remained sheltered at home for safety.
Nothing was known regarding the suspect since authorities published his photograph on social media on Wednesday and asked the public to share any information regarding his possible whereregardings with the police.
His car was found in Lisbon, a town regarding 12 kilometers from Lewiston, where the massacre took place.
The suspect’s car was found in Lisbon, a town regarding 12 kilometers from Lewiston, where the massacre took place.
Card was a soldier in the reserves, 40 years old, and had spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital. Until now he was considered armed and dangerous.
Hundreds of agents participated in the search, which this Friday focused on the river next to which the vehicle was found, with divers, underwater robots and sonars.
Maine State Police, which is leading the investigation, released the names of the 18 victims killed in the shootings, including a teenager and his father and four deaf people.
The event has shocked Lewiston, a city of regarding 38,000 inhabitants, the most populated in the state.
Card was a soldier in the reserves, 40 years old, and had spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital. Until now he was considered armed and dangerous. (REUTERS)
This Friday, Maine authorities lifted the shelter order implemented in some parts of the state following the shootings.
Hunting was prohibited in some areas of the town starting this Saturday and “until further notice,” according to Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck in a press conference reported by CNN. Specifically, hunting activities will not be possible in Lewiston, Lisbon, Bowdoin and Monmouth.
With the mass shooting in Maine, there are already 565 committed this year in the United States, according to the non-profit organization Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which compiles statistics on these types of incidents.
The search for Card seemed regarding to end Thursday night, when police gathered in front of a house that belonged, according to a neighbor, to the suspect’s family.
“Please come out,” the police officers repeated throughout the night through megaphones, “we would like to speak with you.” But the police left without making any statements to journalists.
The police gathered in front of a house that belonged, according to a neighbor, to the suspect’s family. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Drones, helicopters and armored vehicles had been deployed in the surrounding area.
Educational centers and businesses closed their doors and the high school parking lot was taken over by police officers dressed in uniform and armed to the teeth.
On the facade of a business, Jeremy Hiltz, a neighbor, placed a banner that reads: “Lewiston Strong.”
Seven people, a woman and six men, lost their lives in the bowling alley, eight in the bar-restaurant, regarding twelve minutes away, and finally three injured people died in the hospital.
Witnesses who were at the Just-In-Time store described how customers were hiding under tables and in machines at the end of the tracks. “I threw myself on top of my daughter, and my mother on top of me,” Riley Dumont described to ABC.
A photograph released by police showed a man dressed in a brown T-shirt entering the establishment, with a semi-automatic rifle over his shoulder.
Maine State Police, which is leading the investigation, released the names of the 18 victims killed in the shootings. (REUTERS)
“It is a dark day for Maine,” the state’s governor, Janet Mills, declared Thursday morning when announcing the high number of victims.
President Joe Biden deplored a “tragic and senseless” act and ordered the national flag to be placed at half-mast on federal buildings.
“Once once more, our nation is in mourning,” said the president, demanding for the umpteenth time that Congress ban assault weapons, a point on which Democrats and Republicans have disagreed for decades.
Wednesday’s massacre is the worst in the United States since that of the Uvalde school in Texas, where a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022.
Excluding suicides, more than 15,000 people have died from gun violence since the beginning of the year in the country, according to the non-governmental organization Gun Violence Archive.
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