LEWISTON:Â The man suspected of killing 18 people and wounding 13 in a shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday (Oct 27), ending a 48-hour manhunt that followed the most lethal episode of gun violence in the state’s history.
The body of Robert R. Card, 40, was discovered in the woods near the neighboring town of Lisbon Falls, near where police found his abandoned vehicle shortly after the shooting spree on Wednesday night.
“He is dead,” Maine Governor Janet Mills told a news conference, thanking the hundreds of officers from various agencies involved in the search.
“Like many people, I am breathing a sign of relief tonight, knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone … Now is the time to heal,” Mills said.
Card died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Mike Sauschuck, Maine’s Department of Public Safety commissioner.
Officials said the US Army reservist opened fire in a bowling alley and then a bar minutes later on Wednesday night.
The shootings and prolonged manhunt convulsed the normally bustling but serene community of Lewiston, a former textile hub and the second-most populous city in Maine.
The town lies on the banks of the Androscoggin River about 35 miles (56km) north of the state’s largest city, Portland, and nearly as far southwest of Maine’s capital, Augusta.
Card, an Army Reserve sergeant from the nearby town of Bowdoin, has been described by authorities as a trained firearms instructor who served as a petroleum supply specialist when on duty at the military reserve base in Saco, Maine.
Source: CNA
