The authorities continue searching intensively this Thursday for an army reservist who opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar-restaurant in the northeastern United States, killing 22 people and leaving more than 50 injured.
The killings occurred on Wednesday night in the city of Lewiston, the second city in the state of Maine, where the population was urged to remain in their homes due to the risk posed by this “armed and dangerous” man who fled after the shootings.
(You can read: Massacre in the US: at least 22 dead after shooting in Maine, they are looking for the shooter).
Police identified the attacker as Robert Card, 40, and released his photograph. At the moment his motivations are unknown. According to cnnwhich cites police sources, Card is a certified instructor and Army reservist.
The identity of the attacker was known thanks to the fact that his face was captured on security cameras and then tracked through facial recognition.
We have literally hundreds of police officers working across the State of Maine to locate Card
It’s known that The subject was born on April 4, 1983 in a small town near Lewiston called Bowdoin, in the same state.
(Be sure to read: The key clue that the Police follow to capture the person responsible for the massacre in the US).
“We have confirmed 22 dead and many, many more injured,” he told cnn Robert McCarthy, the councilman of Lewiston, a city of more than 36,000 people.
“Our hospitals are not equipped to handle this type of shooting,” he said, adding that there were between 50 and 60 wounded.
The head of public safety in Maine, Mike Sauschuck, told reporters that the streets are full of police looking for the suspect. “We have literally hundreds of police officers working across the State of Maine to locate Card,” he said.
According to various media outlets, and based on a report spread online, Card was also admitted to a mental health center for two weeks during the summer of 2023.although they did not specify the treatment.
The man claimed to hear voices in his head and threatened to carry out a shooting at the military training base in Saco, also in the state of Maine.
(Also: What’s behind the shootings and massacres in the United States).
This new massacre, one of the deadliest since the one in Las Vegas in 2017, is added to the long list of shootings that regularly mourn the United States, where weapons abound and are easy to acquire.
After being informed of what happened, President Joe Biden was absent from a state dinner in honor of the Australian prime minister to communicate with local officials and offer them federal support, according to the White House.
This is what the suspect looked like
Photos released of the suspect show a bearded man, wearing a brown jacket, blue pants and brown shoes, holding a semi-automatic rifle.
(Also: Massacre in the United States: deaths from shooting in Maine increase to 22).
According to Sauschuck, the police found an abandoned white van about ten kilometers from Lewiston.
The shootings occurred in at least two places: a bowling alley and a bar-restaurant. The Boston FIB indicated that it is also participating in the search for the suspect.
Several media also mentioned a shooting in a logistics center of a Wallmart supermarket, but the authorities have not confirmed it.
Difficult situation in Lewiston
“It’s an overwhelming situation. We’ve never experienced anything like this,” Cynthia Hunter, who has lived in Lewiston since 2012, told local television. Public schools will remain closed on Thursday, a local official reported on X (formerly Twitter).
“I am horrified by what happened in Lewiston tonight,” Maine Rep. Jared Golden said in a statement.
The United States has more guns than people: one adult in three owns at least one gun and almost one adult in two lives in a home where there is a gun. The consequence of this proliferation is the very high rate of deaths from firearms, incomparable with that of other developed countries.
(Be sure to read: Alert for a huge open sinkhole in a Florida supermarket).
Excluding suicides, More than 15,000 people have died due to armed violence since the beginning of the year in the country, and Wednesday’s attack is the deadliest recorded during the period, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) association.
Efforts to tighten gun control in that country have clashed for years with opposition from Republicans, staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms. The political paralysis remains despite widespread outrage over the recurring shootings.
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With information from AFP
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