Maine Manhunt: Search For Mass Shooter Who Killed 18 People
What we know about the suspect and the victims
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Good morning and TGIF!
The Beatles have new music coming out next week! How, you ask?
50+ years after the band broke up, and with two of the four members deceased, some help from A.I. and the two living bandmates created a perfect storm for the release of “Now And Then.”
🎶 They say it’s their last, new song... so let’s “Come Together” and enjoy it!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
🗞 AT LEAST 18 PEOPLE KILLED; MASSIVE MANHUNT TO FIND SHOOTER
It’s day two of the manhunt for Robert Card, the suspect accused of killing at least 18 people and wounding another 13 at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night. Southern Maine remains on lockdown as the search continues.
At one point Thursday night, law enforcement officials surrounded his home and order the suspect out, but left without an arrest. It appears he remains on the loose.
“ARMED AND DANGEROUS”
Card is 40 years old and a trained firearms instructor. He’s in the U.S. Army Reserves and authorities say he’s “armed and dangerous.”
Communities across Maine have shelter-in-place orders as law enforcement searches for him.
The Canada Border Services Agency has issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to its officers stationed along the Canada-U.S. border, warning them to be on the lookout for Card.
Dozens of F.B.I. agents are helping in the investigation.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent about 40 agents to help, one of its biggest deployments in recent years.
WHAT HAPPENED
The shootings began just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday night. Police say Card first opened fire at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley. And then about ten minutes later they received calls of another shooting at Schemengees Bar about 4 miles away (or ten minutes by car) away.
A number of parents and children were at Sparetime as part of a children’s bowling league.
Authorities said that seven people were killed at the bowling alley and eight people were killed at the bar and grill. Three people died from injuries while being transported to hospitals.
Here are some of the victim’s stories.
📹 The attack sent panicked bowlers scrambling behind pins, into corners and a back room. Here is one survivor’s account:
SHOOTER’S KNOWN TROUBLES
The suspect is enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2002 and has an active military ID, which gives him access to any military base. And he has a history of mental illness.
He serves as a petroleum supply specialist, and has not had combat deployments.
Card reported experiencing mental health issues in the last year, including hearing voices, and threatened to open-fire at a military base in Saco, ME.
In July, Card was taken by police for an evaluation after military officials became concerned that he was acting erratic. He was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer.
AND HE HAS A GUN?
Maine imposes few limits on firearms, making it an outlier in New England. It is not known if the gun Card used belonged to him, but here are some of Maine’s gun laws:
No background checks or red flag laws (which allow judges to temporarily remove a person’s access to guns if they are deemed a serious risk). Maine has what’s called a “yellow flag” law.
People are allowed to carry an open or concealed gun without a permit.
Does not bar the purchase of military-style assault rifles or limit the purchase of certain high-capacity magazines.
Requires secure storage — firearms to be stored locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition in certain circumstances.
ON THE HUNT
Card is 5'11" tall and weighs 230 pounds. Authorities have recovered his car at a boat launch that they suspected he used to get between locations Wednesday, but Card also has a 2022 Yamaha motorcycle and a 2019 Sea Doo green boat registered in Maine.
350+ law enforcement personnel, including the FBI, are engaged in the search
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching waterways for the suspect's boat.
POLITICIANS CALL FOR ACTION
Democrats are calling for gun reform. President Biden denounces "senseless and tragic mass shooting," and urged gun laws. While Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a centrist Democrat, called for a ban on assault weapons, reversing a long-held stance.
✔︎ Mo News Reality Check: It’s the 36th mass killing — defined as four or more people, excluding the offender, having been killed within a 24-hour time frame — in the U.S. this year.
The House is in Republican hands. And the Senate has a very slim Democratic majority. So any real action on gun laws on a federal level isn’t likely. States will have to act independently.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
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📌 A federal judge says Georgia's political maps must be redrawn for the 2024 election (NPR)
📌 Texas immigration bill allowing local police to arrest migrants clears state house (FOX NEWS)
📌 Suspect in fatal shooting of judge has been found dead, sheriff’s office says (CNN)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
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📌 Israeli raid into Gaza tests invasion plans (WSJ)
📌 UN meets to discuss Israel-Hamas war (AP)
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📌 Otis’ stunning turn to monster Pacific hurricane kills at least 27 in Acapulco (AP)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 United Auto Workers union and Ford reach tentative labor agreement (CNN)
📌 X usage plummets in Musk's first year (AXIOS)
📌 Sam Bankman-Fried testifies in his crypto fraud trial without jury present (GUARDIAN)
📌 US Economic Update: The third quarter GDP boom (WSJ)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 SAG-AFTRA & studios set more contract talks for Friday; “cautious optimism” motto of the day (DEADLINE)
📌 Hasan Minhaj says exposé on his embellished stand-up act was ‘misleading’ and ‘made me look like’ a ‘psycho’; New Yorker ‘stands by our story’ (VARIETY)
📌 A Britney Spears book tour: no TV, no podcasts, lots of Instagram (NY TIMES)
📌 Jonathan Majors’ accuser arrested in New York, won’t be prosecuted (CNN)
🗓 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN’ WKND
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Jill: Terminator (finally!); Mosheh: Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series
WHAT WE’RE READING: Jill: Lessons in Chemistry~ Bonnie Garmus; Mosheh: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA~ Liza Mundy
WHAT WE’RE EATING: Mosheh: mom’s homemade Harira; Jill: Courtney’s Sweets Air Fryer Chicken Thighs