At least 22 people were feared dead Thursday and 60 more injured after a man armed with a military-style assault rifle opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar in the US state of Maine.
Police launched a massive manhunt and were looking for “armed and dangerous” Robert Card, a US Army reserve firearms instructor with 20 years of military service.
The 40-year-old recently spent time at a mental health facility after hearing voices, according to an internal police notice.
CCTV images show the killer walking into the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley at about 7pm Wednesday local time (11pm UK time) in the city of Lewiston before he started shooting.
At least 100 people, including about 20 children, were said to be in the bowling alley. Police then received calls about a shooting at a second location, the bar and grill, about four miles away.
Lewiston, a small city of 38,000 residents, was put on lockdown. Sheriff Eric Samson of Androscoggin County said a children’s party had been taking place at the bowling alley.
He said officers had found Card’s white Subaru vehicle at a boat dock in the nearby town of Lisbon, but the suspect was nowhere to be seen. The mass shooting was already the deadliest of 565 mass shootings in the US this year.
Hundreds of police officers were involved in the manhunt, with local media this morning reporting that the search was focused near a secondary school in Lisbon Falls.
“We have literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine to investigate this case,” Maine public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck told a news conference.
A police source told NBC News that at least 22 people were dead and as many as 60 people injured. Sixteen people were officially confirmed to have been killed.
Card’s sister-in-law said that the family were in shock. “I am with police right now and my children [are] terrified and shaken, so I do not have a comment on anything right now,” she told the Daily Beast news website.
Kathy Lebel, co-owner at the bar and grill called Schemengees, said: “It was just a fun night playing [lawn game] cornhole… it’s the last thing you’re expecting, right?” She told The Sun Journal: “I still feel like this whole thing is a nightmare.”
Riley Dumont said her 11-year-old daughter had been taking part in a children’s bowling league at the venue when she heard several gunshots. She said her father, who is a retired police officer, corralled their family into a corner.
“I was laying on top of my daughter,” Ms Dumont told ABC News, adding that her own mother then lay on top of both of them to protect them. A bowler, named only as Brandon, said he heard about 10 shots, but thought the first was a balloon popping.
“I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon — he was holding a weapon — I just booked it.”
Brandon scrambled down the length of the alley, sliding into the pin area and climbing up to hide in the machinery, where he stayed until police arrived.
Card was believed to have been stationed at a military base in Saco, Maine. He was said to have been committed to a psychiatric health facility for two weeks after he reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
Schools in the area were closed today as well as council offices in Lewiston.
Nichoel Wyman Arel was driving home past the bowling alley at around the time of the shooting and told CNN she saw a person who looked like they had “blood all over them”. She added that her young daughter was with her.
“She was definitely scared, said Ms Arel, adding: “She started crying and said, ‘This is a scary world we live in mom’. I’m like, ‘I know’.” On its website, Central Maine Medical Centre said staff were “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and were co-ordinating with area hospitals to take in patients. The hospital was locked down and police, some armed with rifles, stood at the entrances.
Meanwhile, hospitals as far away as Portland, about 35 miles to the south, were on alert to receive victims.
Maine governor Janet Mills called for people not to leave their homes. President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Mrs Mills and the state’s senate and house members, offering “full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack”, a White House statement said.
Lewiston mayor Carl L Sheline said: “I am heartbroken for our city and our people. Lewiston is known for our strength and grit and we will need both in the days to come.”
Before last night’s incident, the deadliest US mass shooting of this year was in Monterey Park, California, where 11 people were murdered during a Chinese New Year event.
