Home surrounded in manhunt for Maine shooting suspect

Law enforcement officials on Thursday surrounded the last known address of the suspect in two shootings that left at least 18 people dead and dozens wounded in Lewiston, Maine.

The Associated Press (AP) reported heavily armed officials returned to a house in the town of Bowdoin a few minutes before 8 p.m. The homeowner is a relative of Robert Card, authorities’ lone suspect in Wednesday’s deadly shootings at a bowling alley and a bar. As of press time, it was not known if Card was inside the residence.

“You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police shouted through a megaphone, instructing Card or anyone in the house to come outside, according to the AP.

The gunman on Wednesday opened fire at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston, police said.

According to information released by the Maine State Police, Card is a trained firearms instructor believed to be in the U.S. Army Reserve stationed in Saco, Maine.

Newsweek reached out to the state police via email for more details on Thursday night.

Authorities said Card had recently reported suffering from mental health issues, including hearing voices and threatening to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco. Card was also reportedly admitted into a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer, but a police document did not provide details of the treatment he received or his condition.

While hundreds of law enforcement agents search for Card, residents in Lewiston and the surrounding area have been warned to stay inside their homes as he is considered armed and dangerous.

Card was last seen wearing brown clothing and carrying an assault-style rifle. According to police, Card was last known to be driving a white 2013 Subaru Outback bearing Maine license plate number 9246PD.

Authorities have shared a photo of the Subaru as well as multiple photographs of Card on social media.

Along with hunting for Card on land, authorities are also searching on water.

On Thursday morning, the Coast Guard sent a patrol boat out along the Kennebec River. A Coast Guard officer told the AP they had no direct intelligence that suggested Card may have tried to escape by boat but were “just doing our due diligence.”

Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, said in a Thursday statement that “the full weight” of her administration is backing law enforcement efforts to capture Card.

She also vowed “to hold whoever is responsible for this atrocity accountable under the full force of state and federal law; and to seek full justice for the victims and their families. We are not, and we will not, rest in this endeavor.”