A gunman has killed at least 22 people and injured 60 in the town of Lewiston, Maine, after bursting into a bowling alley and a bar and opening fire with an AR 15-style rifle last night.
The town is on lockdown as police hunt for suspect Robert Card, a 40-year-old US Army reserve firearms instructor who was sectioned this summer for two weeks with mental health issues.
Officers have confirmed that Card’s vehicle – a 2013 white Subaru – was found near the boat dock in Lisbon, about seven miles southeast of Lewiston, but the suspect was not inside.
Chilling CCTV images show the shooter pointing his rifle as he walked into the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley, while dramatic footage shows terrified people running for their lives. Residents have been told to lock their doors.
Card, from Bowdoin, Maine, had previously reported hearing voices and had threatened to shoot up his National Guard base in Saco, Maine, according to the Maine Information and Analysis Center – a division of the Maine state police.
The ‘armed and dangerous’ shooter, who has been named as a ‘person of interest’ by police, was holding an AR 15-style rifle with a laser optic when he burst into the bowling alley at 7:15pm local time (12.15am BST) to begin his rampage.
Police then received calls about a shooting at a second location, Schemengees Bar and Grille, which was around four miles away. This is the deadliest attack of the 565 mass shootings in the US this year.
One bowler, who identified himself as Brandon, said he heard 10 shots ring out before he ran down the alley barefoot and climbed inside the bowling machinery to hide from the gunman.
‘There was a loud pop,’ he said. ‘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.
‘I was putting on my bowling shoes when it started. I’ve been barefoot for five hours.’
Concerned friends and family members of possible victims are desperately hunting for information as they claim police won’t tell them who the casualties are as it is an ongoing investigation.
Police were knocking on doors of homes in the local area, while helicopters remained in the area Wednesday night.
A shelter-in-place order remains in effect for Lewiston, and is also now in place in Lisbon, where Card’s car was found.
Authorities have opened a reunification center at Auburn Middle School. Armed police were searching anyone coming onto the grounds.
Dozens of anxious relatives were hurried inside by officers, and DailyMail.com saw one woman sobbing behind the wheel of her car.
At least a dozen local officers surrounded the school, with volunteers taking emotional family members inside.
Read More: At least 22 killed and SIXTY injured in Lewiston
