United States: Gunman on the loose kills 22 in Maine mass shooting

Police in the US city of Lewiston, Maine have warned a gunman is on the loose. With reports that at least 16 people have been killed, residents of the city, as well as the nearby town of Lisbon, were told to shelter in place.

Police believe the gunman is Robert Card, 40, and said he was “armed and dangerous”.

Lewiston, now under lockdown, has a population of around 38,000 people and is the second-largest city in Maine after Portland.

Maine State Police said on X: “There is an active shooter in Lewiston. We ask people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked.”

Lewiston Police said it had responded to two locations, a restaurant called Schemengees, and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley. The two sites appear to be about four miles from each other.

Michael Sauschuck, commissioner in Maine’s Department of Public Safety, told the press the shooting had begun at 18:56 local time (23:56 CET) and that there had been “multiple casualties”.

The Central Maine Medical Center said it was reacting to a “mass casualty, mass shooter event” and was coordinating with other hospitals in the area to treat the injured.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released two images of a suspect, saying he was at large and asking for the public’s help identifying him.

They showed a bearded man in a brown sweater carrying a firearm walking into a building.

The man identified as a person of interest is a firearms instructor who was trained by the US military at a facility in the city of Saco, Maine. He also spent time in a mental health centre in the summer of 2023 and had threatened to commit a shooting at the base.

Lewiston Public Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais said in a statement that schools in the district would be closed on Thursday.

A US justice department statement said that federal agencies were assisting state and local law enforcement.

The White House said President Joe Biden had spoken individually by phone to Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, and Congressman Jared Golden.