Thousands of Mainers were still under lockdown orders Friday morning as law enforcement entered their second full day searching for a 40-year-old man suspected of committing a pair of mass shootings here.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for eight counts of murder for Robert Card, the man they said allegedly entered Sparetime Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant Wednesday and killed 18 people and injured 13 others.
The shootings have put a pause on life in Lewiston and the surrounding communities of Lisbon and Bowdoin, where restaurants, shops, schools and nearly all businesses have shuttered their doors as police look for Card.
Police surrounded a home on Meadow Road in Bowdoin Thursday night with heavily armed law enforcement officials and tactical trucks. A searchlight was cast on the house, and police at one point commanded Card to come outside if he was in the building.
But as the evening progressed, police eventually left the scene. Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said law enforcement officials were at the home “to execute several search warrants.”
“The announcements that are being heard over a loudspeaker are standard search warrant announcements when executing a warrant to ensure the safety of all involved,” Moss said in a statement just before 8 p.m. “It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes law enforcement will search. Law enforcement officials are simply doing their due diligence by tracking down every lead in an effort to locate and apprehend Card.”
Neither city nor state officials have scheduled a press conference Friday but that could change if there are developments in the case.
The two shooting incidents Wednesday took place only minutes apart.
Police said they first received a 911 call at 6:56 p.m. for a male shooting a firearm at Sparetime Recreation. Only minutes later, at 7:08 p.m., police received multiple 911 calls for an active shooter inside Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant.
“A large law enforcement response from multiple surrounding agencies assisted the Lewiston Police Department in trying to identify who this individual was and what was happening. As you can imagine, this was a very fast paced, fast moving very fluid scene, very dangerous scene that these guys and girls were going into,” Maine State Police Col. William Ross said Thursday.
Seven people were killed at Sparetime Recreation, one female and six males, from gunshot wounds, Ross said. Seven males were killed inside Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant and one male outside the establishment was also killed, Ross said.
The arrest warrant for Card could later include more murder counts, Ross said.
“There is an arrest warrant for eight counts of murder for Mr. Card. And the reason it’s eight counts, because 10 people have not yet been identified. As those people are identified, the counts will probably go to the total of 18. He should be considered armed and dangerous,” he said.
