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Maine shooting live updates: Suspect Robert Card found dead after manhunt

October 28, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LEWISTON, MAINE) — At least 18 people were killed, and 13 others were injured in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening, officials said.

The suspect, Robert Card, is still at large.

The shooting unfolded in two locations: a bowling alley where a children’s league was taking place and a local bar, officials said.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Oct 27, 11:30 PM EDT
Biden on Maine shootings: ‘This has been a tragic two days’

President Joe Biden issued a statement Friday night following the news that the suspect in the Maine mass shootings was found dead, saying, “This has been a tragic two days – not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country.”

“Tonight we’re grateful that Lewiston and surrounding communities are safe after spending excruciating days hiding in their homes,” Biden added.

Biden also thanked law enforcement, saying “they are the best of us,” and, again, called on congressional Republicans to pass gun safety legislation.

“The Lewiston community – and all Americans – deserve nothing less,” the president said.

Oct 27, 11:15 PM EDT
Garland says no community should ‘endure these mass shootings’

Attorney General Merrick Garland thanked law enforcement for their efforts in finding the suspect and pledged continued support for those who have been impacted by the mass shooting.

“I want to thank our state and local law enforcement partners, along with the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and other federal agencies who have been working day and night to locate the shooter and keep the affected communities safe,” Garland said in a statement.

Garland said that the FBI would continue to provide victim support resources to those who have been devastated by the tragedy that happened in Lewiston on Wednesday.

“No community should have to endure these mass shootings which have become routine in our country,” Garland said.

Oct 27, 11:14 PM EDT
‘The threat is over’: Lewiston police chief

Lewiston Police Chief David L. St. Pierre said authorities are relieved that the manhunt for mass shooting suspect Robert Card has ended.

“Our community can now breathe a sigh of relief, as the Gov. stated, and I can’t echo that enough,” the police chief said, addressing the media at a news conference Friday night.

Despite Carr being found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, which authorities confirmed at the press event, St. Pierre said law enforcement has a lot of work ahead of them.

“Our work again is not done here. I was very elated tonight when I got the call from Commissioner Sauschuck advising me of the revelation of what took place and that Mr. Card is deceased and no longer a threat to our community or any other community,” he said. “I just don’t want to forget the families that are grieving and will continue to grieve. I don’t want to forget the law enforcement officials that have worked tirelessly throughout this whole event to come to a good conclusion.”

He added, “I’m very happy to be here, and I’m very happy to say the threat is over.”

Authorities also noted that hunting, which had been restricted in four communities where searching for the suspect had been taking place, is no longer banned for the weekend.

Officials said they will share further updates on Saturday.

Oct 27, 11:06 PM EDT
Governor confirms death of suspect Robert Card

Gov. Janet Mills officially confirmed the Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card is dead. Authorities found his body on Friday, she said.

Oct 27, 9:14 PM EDT
Maine shooting suspect Robert Card found dead, sources say

Maine shooting suspect Robert Card has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.

A body has been recovered, the sources said.

The body was found at a recycling center in Lisbon where Card worked, sources said.

Oct 27, 5:38 PM EDT
Shelter-in-place order rescinded, hunting banned in 4 cities

The shelter-in-place order has been rescinded, but hunting has been banned in the cities of Lewiston, Lisbon, Bowdoin and Monmouth, officials said.

Residents are urged to remain vigilant.

Authorities said they do not know how many weapons suspect Robert Card may have.

Oct 27, 5:28 PM EDT
What we know about the victims

The names of the 18 people killed in Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Maine were released by authorities on Friday.

The victims at the bowling alley include youth bowling coach Bob Violette and his wife Lucille Violette, as well as bowling alley manager Tommy Conrad.

Aaron Young, 14, and his father William “Bill” Young, 43, were also among the victims at the bowling alley, their family said.

Victims Steven Vozzella and Bill Brackett were among those killed at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant. They were a part of a gathering of deaf people playing cornhole.

Oct 27, 5:19 PM EDT
Slain victims range in age from 14 to 76

A 14-year-old boy and his father and a 76-year-old man and his wife were among the 18 victims killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar, Maine officials said.

Officials released the 18 names at a news conference on Friday before holding a moment of silence.

Four of the 18 victims were deaf, officials said.

Oct 27, 3:30 PM EDT
Lewiston residents begin emerging from shelter-in-place to grieve

Though fear is still gripping Lewiston, Maine, some residents are emerging from the shelter-in-place order to grieve and to lift up their community.

“People mourn in different ways … for me, I want to be here doing something in my community, trying to uplift everybody,” resident Alex McMahon told ABC News after he hung up a “Lewiston Strong” sign near the bowling alley.

McMahon said he knows one of the 18 people killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting.

“A lot of people knew people that were affected,” he said. “One of our regular customers was one of the men that died a hero trying to take out the gunman.”

He said he wants to help the community heal, adding, “We want to heal with unity and strength.”

Oct 27, 3:18 PM EDT
Biden briefed on manhunt

President Joe Biden was briefed Friday afternoon on the latest information surrounding the Maine mass shooting investigation and manhunt, according to the White House.

Over 200 FBI personnel are in Maine to help the victims and contribute to the search, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Biden.

Oct 27, 1:46 PM EDT
Bowling alley shooting ‘like a horror movie,’ 10-year-old says

Tammy Asselin and her 10-year-old daughter, Toni, were at the Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley when the gunfire erupted, and they got separated during the chaos.

Toni told ABC News Live the massacre was “like a horror movie.”

“I saw someone get shot and I saw, like, blood splatter everywhere, and they just fell off their chair and they weren’t moving,” Toni said. “I ran out the exit. I didn’t know where my mom was. And I ran with three other people to Subway.”

“I was trying to stay a little bit calmer,” Toni said. “But then when I realized my mom wasn’t following me, I kind of started crying.”

Tammy Asselin’s cousin, Tricia Asselin, was among the victims killed inside the bowling alley.

“She was the most fun person,” she said. “I just feel devastated for the loss of her family, and especially her son.”

Oct 27, 10:34 AM EDT
Shelter-in-place order remains in effect

As the search for Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card intensifies, authorities said Friday that they’ve received over 530 tips and leads.

The shelter-in-place order remains in effect in the cities of Lewiston, Auburn, Bowdoin and Lisbon, and there will be an ongoing conversation each day, authorities said.

Divers will be a “major focus today,” authorities said, adding, “We have a lot of other irons in the fire.”

Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting: Here’s what we know

Meanwhile, police are continuing their work at the two mass shooting sites, the bowling alley and the bar, authorities said.

“We are going to be processing every square inch of these facilities,” authorities said.

Oct 27, 8:30 AM EDT
What we know about suspect Robert Card

The suspected gunman — identified as 40-year-old Robert Card — has been a U.S. Army reservist since December 2002, the Army said. He has no combat deployments.

Card’s sister told investigators she thought Card might have been looking for an ex-girlfriend at the shooting locations, law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

The suspect appears to have “interacted with conspiratorial content” online, information provided to law enforcement shows. Topics he engaged with included but were not limited to: concerns about a financial crisis/stock market, LGBTQ+ issues, gun rights and commentary about Democratic public officials, including President Joe Biden.

Oct 27, 7:44 AM EDT
Card had affiliations at both targeted locations: Sources

A law enforcement source with direct knowledge tells ABC News that Robert Card had affiliations with the two locations he allegedly targeted.

An ex-girlfriend is connected to one of the locations. According to the source, “We don’t think this was completely random.”

The suspect also appears to have been fairly thoughtful about eluding police. He left behind a cellphone that authorities have recovered apparently suspecting it could be tracked.

Oct 27, 7:40 AM EDT
Search at home tied to suspect winds down

A large number of police vehicles that had surrounded a property tied to suspect Robert Card on Thursday have departed.

The search at this location seems to have gone quiet with most of the authorities having left the scene.

A source familiar with the search in Bowdoin tells ABC News there is no expectation the suspect will be apprehended at that location tonight.

The source said this search and the dramatic accompaniments were part of standard procedure for safely carrying out a search warrant.

Police will be doing this repeatedly as they work to retrieve evidence. They say they’re being thorough by tracking down every lead.

Oct 26, 8:22 PM EDT
Suspect consumed ‘conspiratorial’ content online, investigation finds

Information provided to law enforcement shows that Robert Card appears to have “interacted with conspiratorial content” online.

Topics he engaged with included, but were not limited to, concerns about a financial crisis/stock market, LGBTQ+ issues, gun rights and commentary about Democratic public officials, including President Joe Biden.

It remains unknown whether any of his social media usage played any role in the suspect’s decision to go on his rampage Wednesday night.

Law enforcement has not determined the motive, but they are looking into several aspects of the suspect’s life, including his writings and history of mental health problems.

Oct 26, 5:25 PM EDT
Number of casualties for hospital was a ‘challenge’ officials say

Dr. John Alexander, the chief medical officer of the Central Maine Medical Center, which admitted 14 victims from Wednesday’s mass shooting, spoke with ABC News’ Trevor Ault about the scramble his physicians made to treat the patients.

Three of the patients died and another three are in critical condition as of Thursday evening.

Alexander said although the team is trained to deal with mass casualty events, the number of casualties was a challenge for the hospital.

“It certainly is unprecedented so far as the severity of the injuries and certainly the attack on the community,” he said.

At least 30 to 40 employees who were not on shift last night were voluntarily standing by to assist fellow staffers working around the clock to care for victims, according to Alexander.

He said the hospital is providing 24-hour mental health resources for staffers in need.

-ABC News’ Briana Stewart

Oct 26, 4:19 PM EDT
Note found at suspect’s home: Sources

Investigators found a note at the home of mass shooting suspect Robert Card, law enforcement sources familiar with the case told ABC News.

The sources declined to describe the contents of the note, its length or its relevance to the investigation.

Oct 26, 4:02 PM EDT
Gun recovered from suspect’s car: Sources

Investigators recovered a gun from the abandoned car of mass shooting suspect Robert Card, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Card’s white Subaru was found Wednesday night.

Authorities are testing and tracing the gun to determine if it was involved in the shooting, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

Card may have access to other firearms. Sources said law enforcement is treating him as though he is armed and dangerous.

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Oct 26, 3:24 PM EDT
Suspect’s sister says he may have been looking for his ex: Law enforcement officials

The family of mass shooting suspect Robert Card is cooperating with authorities, law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

The family is laying out an account of a deeply troubled person, the sources said, bolstering earlier accounts of mental health treatment, voices in his head and alleged threats to shoot up a National Guard facility.

Card’s sister told investigators she thought Card might have been looking for an ex-girlfriend at the shooting locations: a bowling alley and a bar, the sources said.

Oct 26, 3:09 PM EDT
Coast Guard searching Kennebec River

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching the Kennebec River in Maine for any sign of the mass shooting suspect, Robert Card.

Card owns a boat and property in the Lewiston area, according to a source briefed on the situation.

“Currently, one response boat crew from Station Boothbay Harbor, and an Air Station Cape Cod HC-144 fixed wing aircraft are assisting with patrols,” Coast Guard spokesperson Rob Simpson said in a statement.

Oct 26, 2:55 PM EDT
Suspect was behaving erratically this summer during Army service

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card allegedly behaved erratically this summer while serving as an Army reservist, according to a defense official.

Card was deployed to Camp Smith Training Center in upstate New York to help support summer training for West Point cadets.

Card allegedly threatened other soldiers with violence, according to a source briefed on the situation.

“Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted,” the defense official said. Police took Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for a medical evaluation, the official said.

Sometimes this spring or summer, Card bought an accessory to a firearm, according to the source briefed on the situation.

With the manhunt for Card ongoing, the source noted that Card owns a boat and property in the Lewiston area.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Pierre Thomas

Oct 26, 2:40 PM EDT
Exhaustive search underway for suspected gunman

A sweeping dragnet effort is underway on the ground and in the air as law enforcement partners fan out in full force in their search for the suspected Lewiston gunman, Robert Card.

More than 350 law enforcement personnel are involved in the search.

Evidence response teams are already on the ground, processing the “very extensive scenes” where the shootings took place, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen said.

In these early stages, investigators are probing potential mental health issues Card may have had, and how he was in possession of a weapon.

A motive has also not been determined.

“I think those are all valid questions and certainly questions that we are looking into now, but not questions that we can answer today,” Commissioner of Maine’s Department of Public Safety Mike Sauschuck said.

-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik

Oct 26, 2:23 PM EDT
What we know about the victims

ABC News has confirmed the names of five of the 18 people killed in Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Maine.

Bob Violette was shot and killed at the bowling alley, which was the first location targeted in the mass shooting. Violette was a youth bowling coach.

Tricia Asselin was also killed at the bowling alley, according to her family.

Joseph Walker was the manager at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, which was the second location targeted in the mass shooting.

Steven Vozzella was among the victims killed at the bar, his family said. He was part of a gathering of deaf people playing cornhole.

Victim Bill Bracket was also part of the gathering of deaf people playing cornhole at the bar, his family said.

Oct 26, 1:59 PM EDT
Biden to GOP: ‘Work with us’ on gun reform

President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday, “Once again, our nation is in mourning after yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting.”

He said he’s “praying for the Americans who’ve lost their lives, for those still in critical care, and for the families, survivors, and community members enduring shock and grief.”

“Far too many Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it,” Biden said.

He said, while the nation has made progress on gun reform with “the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the two dozen executive actions I’ve taken, and the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, it’s simply not enough.”

Biden said he’s urging Republicans in Congress to “work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.”

“This is the very least we owe every American who will now bear the scars — physical and mental — of this latest attack,” he said.

“Last night, Lewiston became yet another community torn apart by senseless gun violence,” Vice President Kamala Harris added on Thursday.

Harris, speaking at a State Department luncheon as part of the Australian prime minister’s visit to Washington, D.C., noted how Australia enacted transformative gun reform after a 1996 mass shooting, banning semi-automatic and other weapons. Gun-related deaths in Australia then dropped significantly.

“The leading cause of death of American children is gun violence,” Harris said. “Gun violence has terrorized and traumatized so many of our communities in this country. And let us be clear, it does not have to be this way, as our friends in Australia have demonstrated.”

Biden received another briefing on the shooting Thursday morning and has ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public buildings and grounds, according to the White House.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Oct 26, 1:12 PM EDT
Bates College on lockdown

Bates College, a liberal arts school in Lewiston, Maine, remains on lockdown with students ordered to shelter in place as the manhunt for the mass shooter intensifies.

“One college employee was present at one of the shooting locations and was injured, but is expected to make a full recovery,” college President Garry Jenkins said. “Two students were also near one of the crime scenes but were unharmed.”

“Our thoughts are with those who have close ties to those who were killed or injured,” he said. “Unfortunately, as the search for the person of interest continues, we remain in an emergency situation under shelter-in-place orders.”

Oct 26, 12:52 PM EDT
Owners of bowling alley, bar speak out

The first shots were fired at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, formerly known as Sparetime.

“None of this seems real, but unfortunately it is,” the owners of the bowling alley said in a statement. “We are devastated for our community and our staff. We lost some amazing and wholehearted people from our bowling family and community last night. There are no words to fix this or make it better. We are praying for everyone who has been affected by this horrific tragedy. We love you all and hold you close in our hearts.”

Minutes after the massacre at the bowling alley, the mass shooting continued at the nearby Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant.

“My heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words. In a split second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason,” a statement from Schemengees said. “We [lost] great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out prayers to everyone.”

Oct 26, 12:02 PM EDT
Suspect was behaving erratically this summer during Army service

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card allegedly behaved erratically this summer while serving as an Army reservist, according to a defense official.

Card was deployed to Camp Smith Training Center in upstate New York to help support summer training for West Point cadets.

“Card was behaving erratically” on July 17, and “out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted,” the defense official said. Police took Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for a medical evaluation, the official said.

The manhunt for Card is ongoing.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Oct 26, 11:58 AM EDT
Suspect was behaving erratically this summer during Army service

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card allegedly behaved erratically this summer while serving as an Army reservist, according to a defense official.

Card was deployed to Camp Smith Training Center in upstate New York to help support summer training for West Point cadets.

The manhunt for Card is ongoing.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Oct 26, 11:55 AM EDT
3 in critical condition

Three people are in critical condition and five others are in stable condition on Thursday morning in the wake of Wednesday night’s mass shooting, according to Dr. John Alexander, chief medical officer at Central Maine Health Care.

Two patients have been transported to other hospitals and two others have been discharged, he said.

Alexander praised the work of the hospital staffers who jumped in to help. He said about 100 off-duty team members volunteered.

ABC News’ Alex Faul

Oct 26, 11:45 AM EDT
Timeline: How the Maine mass shootings unfolded

At 6:56 p.m. Wednesday, emergency dispatchers began to receive 911 calls detailing a male shooting at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, formerly known as Sparetime, State Police Col. William Ross told reporters during a news conference.

At 7:08 p.m., law enforcement received reports of an active shooter inside the billiards room at the Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant in Lewiston, about 4 miles south of the bowling alley, Ross said.

Oct 26, 11:41 AM EDT
FBI offering SWAT teams, ATF running down potential gun purchases

The FBI is offering SWAT teams to assist with the manhunt and is also making available behavioral scientists who can help assess how the suspect, Robert Card, might behave in the coming hours, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.

U.S. Marshals are also assisting in the search for card, sources said.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are running down potential gun purchases by the suspect, sources said.

ABC News’ Pierre Thomas

Oct 26, 11:02 AM EDT
7 killed at bowling alley, 8 at bar

Seven people were killed at the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley: one female and six males, authorities said.

Eight people were shot and killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille: seven males inside and one male outside, police said.

Three people died at the hospital, police said.

The suspect, Robert Card, remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous, authorities said. A murder warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Oct 26, 10:53 AM EDT
‘One of the safest states in the nation’

“No words can truly or fully measure the grief,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference Thursday.

“Our small state of just 1.3 million people has long been known as one of the safest states in the nation,” she said. “This attack strikes at the very heart of who we are and the values we hold dear for this precious place we call home. All Maine people are sharing in the sorrow of the families who lost loved ones last night.”

Oct 26, 10:47 AM EDT
Deadliest shooting of the year

The U.S. has had at least 565 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Mass shootings are defined as an incident in which four or more victims are shot or killed, according to the archive.

Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which claimed at least 18 lives, is the deadliest shooting of the year and one of the deadliest in recent decades.

Oct 26, 10:41 AM EDT
WH spokesperson: Biden grieving, says more needs to be done

President Joe Biden in grieving the loss of life in Maine and is praying for the injured, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC.

Kirby urged Congress to do more to ban semi-automatic rifles, which he called weapons of war allowed on the streets, and said that Biden’s recent legislation, the Safer Communities Act, was a start — but not enough.

The Safer Communities Act included incentives for states to pass red flag laws, closed the so-called boyfriend loophole and created an enhanced background check process for people under 21 who are looking to buy firearms from licensed dealers. Biden himself, while signing the bill, said it wasn’t everything he wanted but was a start.

Biden has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the Maine victims.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “I am heartbroken for those who have lost loved ones, for those who have been injured, and for the entire Lewiston community.”

“The FBI, ATF, and U.S. Marshals are on the ground to provide investigative support and victims assistance services to our law enforcement partners in Maine,” he said. “No community should have to endure the horrific mass shootings that have become routine in our country.”

Oct 26, 10:18 AM EDT
Person of interest has been Army reservist for 2 decades

The person of interest in the Maine mass shooting, Robert Card, has been an Army reservist since December 2002, the Army said.

He has no combat deployments, the Army said.

His current rank is sergeant first class. His job is listed as petroleum supply specialist.

Oct 26, 10:02 AM EDT
Lisbon police chief: No tip is too small

The police chief in Lisbon, Maine, told reporters Thursday that no tip is too small in the hunt for Robert Carr, the person of interest in the Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting.

Lisbon police chief: ‘No tip is too small’

Lisbon borders Lewiston and is where authorities are searching for the person of interest.

The white Subaru believed to be linked to the person of interest was found in Lisbon.

“If you see something in Lisbon, that is suspicious, I want you to call,” Chief Ryan McGee said.

The chief said that police had responses from agencies all across the state and their federal partners.

He said he sent every one of his available officers to the neighboring community before the situation came to Lisbon.

ABC News’ Luke Barr

Oct 26, 9:40 AM EDT
Deadliest shooting of the year

Wednesday night’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which claimed at least 16 lives, is the deadliest shooting of the year and one of the deadliest in recent decades.

Oct 26, 9:37 AM EDT
WH spokesperson: Biden grieving, says more needs to be done

President Joe Biden in grieving the loss of life in Maine and is praying for the injured, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC.

Oct 26, 8:07 AM EDT
Lewiston, Lisbon municipal offices closed Thursday

Municipal offices in Lewiston and Lisbon, Maine, will be closed on Thursday, officials said.

In Lewiston, where the mass shooting occurred, officials said they would also close the library and cancel all events, including early voting, at city buildings.

“Non-emergency personnel should stay at home tomorrow too,” the city said in a social media post.

The nearby town of Lisbon, where police sources said the person of interest’s Subaru had been traced, also closed municipal buildings on Thursday.

“Please prioritize safety and continue to shelter in place,” Lisbon officials said in a notice on the town website.

Oct 26, 7:10 AM EDT
Witnesses describe terrifying moments after gunman opened fire

At least 16 people are believed to be dead and dozens more have been injured after a bowling alley came under fire in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday evening — the deadliest of the year and one of the deadliest in recent decades.

Riley Dumont said she heard a loud bang after which her father, a retired cop, corralled them into a corner and put protection in front of them including “tables and a big bench that the kids were hiding behind.”

“I was laying on top of my daughter. My mother was laying on top of me,” said Riley Dumont.

“It felt like it lasted a lifetime,” she added. “I just remember people sobbing and crying.”

Another witness at the bowling alley, whose name is Brandon, but whose last name was not made available, described hearing a “loud pop.”

“Thought it was a balloon,” Brandon said. “I had my back turned to the door. As soon as I turned and saw that it was not a balloon, he was holding a weapon. I just bucked it down the lane and I slid basically into where the pins are and climbed up to the machine and was on top of the machines for about 10 minutes until the cops got there.”

Meghan Hutchinson, another shooting witness, said “We were very scared and we didn’t know, like, we didn’t know what to do, what to expect from this. You know, nothing like this has ever happened here before. We barricaded in there and another parent was in the room with me. She had a phone and she called 911.”

And Zoe Levesque was grazed by a bullet.

“I never thought I’d grow up and get a bullet in my leg,” said Levesque. “Like, why do people do this? I was more worried about, like, am I going to live and I going to make it out of here. Like, what’s going to happen? Are the cops going to come?”

Oct 26, 6:20 AM EDT
Shelter in place advisory expanded to Bowdoin

“We are expanding the shelter in place advisory and school closings to include the town of Bowdoin. Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings,” Maine State Police said in a post on social media.

A news conference is scheduled at 10:30 am today at Lewiston City Hall.

Oct 26, 3:19 AM EDT
Maine State Police to give briefing Thursday morning

ABC News has learned that Maine State Police plan on briefing the media at 10:30 a.m. ET on the mass shooting in Lewiston.

Oct 26, 2:52 AM EDT
Lewiston, Lisbon municipal offices closed Thursday

Municipal offices in Lewiston and Lisbon, Maine, will be closed on Thursday, officials said.

In Lewiston, where the mass shooting occurred, officials said they would also close the library and cancel all events, including early voting, at city buildings.

“Non-emergency personnel should stay at home tomorrow too,” the city said in a social media post.

The nearby town of Lisbon, where police sources said the person of interest’s Subaru had been traced, also closed municipal buildings on Thursday.

“Please prioritize safety and continue to shelter in place,” Lisbon officials said in a notice on the town website.

Oct 26, 2:01 AM EDT
Maine shooting is ‘worst mass shooting’ of 2023, says gun violence nonprofit

According to the Gun Violence Archive, the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night is already the deadliest shooting of the year.

At least 20 people are believed to be dead from the shooting with dozens more injured.

The suspect has been on the run for hours.

This is the 565th mass shooting of 2023 and the 31st mass murder, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Oct 26, 5:50 AM EDT
Family hides at bowling alley

Riley Dumont said her 11-year-old daughter was bowling in a children’s bowling league when she heard several shots.

Dumont’s father, a retired police officer, then corralled their family into a corner.

“I was laying on top of my daughter. My mother was laying on top of me,” Dumont told ABC News.

Dumont said she saw three or four apparent victims.

Oct 25, 11:05 PM EDT
Person of interest identified

Lewiston police have identified a person of interest as Robert Card.

Oct 25, 11:45 PM EDT
Person of interest served in military, is a firearms instructor: Sources

Police in Maine have identified a person of interest in the shooting, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

The person of interest has a history of military service and is a firearms instructor, the sources said.

The sources said he also has a mental health history, including a two-week stay this summer at a mental health facility after he allegedly made threats about carrying out a shooting at a National Guard facility.

Authorities have traced his white Subaru to a location in Lisbon, Maine, sources said.

Oct 25, 10:36 PM EDT
Manhunt underway in Maine

The Lewiston Police Department has issued a shelter-in-place order for the city. Residents are urged to stay inside with their doors locked.

The FBI is sending in aviation units to help in the search for the gunman. New Hampshire police are putting up roadblocks to try to confine the gunman if he’s on the run.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement, “I am aware of and have been briefed on the active shooter situation in Lewiston. I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement.”

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire “officials have been in touch with our counterparts in Maine to offer and provide any medical and safety resources needed as they manage this horrific situation. Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Maine.”

President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Gov. Mills, Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and “offered full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,” according to the White House.

Oct 25, 10:22 PM EDT
Mayor is ‘heartbroken’

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline said in a statement, “I am heartbroken for our city and our people. Lewiston is known for our strength and grit and we will need both in the days to come.”

Lewiston is about 35 miles north of Portland, Maine.

A nurse at Maine Medical told ABC News the shooting unfolded at a bowling alley during its youth night.

“Maine Medical is on lockdown right now awaiting Lewiston patients,” the nurse said. “They just called for [emergency department] nurses and critical care nurses to come in [and] set up three stretchers to each single critical care bay. They just got their first two patients — both gunshot wounds to their thighs.”

Number of sea turtle nests on Florida coasts exploding, even tripling in some regions, conservationists say

October 27, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(SPACE COAST, Fla.) — Turtles are once again proving that slow and steady wins the race.

Decades after initiating protections for the turtles that nest on Florida’s southeast coast — the densest nesting region in the world — conservationists are now witnessing the fruits of their labor as the number of turtle nests increased exponentially all over the state.

While the entire state is seeing a record number of sea turtle nests this season, the numbers have tripled since last year in Space Coast, Florida, a 72-mile span of beach on Florida’s central east coast near Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, experts told ABC News.

So far in 2023, Space Coast, has recorded a whopping 20,545 in loggerhead nests, 31,893 green sea turtle nests, 61 leatherback nests and three Kemp’s Ridley nests, with a total count of more than 52,500 nests in that area alone, according to the Space Coast Office of Tourism and the Canaveral National Seashore.

At one point over the summer, the region was seeing more than 300 nests pop up a night, Laura Henning, public information officer of the Canaveral National Seashore, told ABC News.

Green turtles have seen the largest increases out of the species that nest in Florida, Henning said.

The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge saw a 195% increase in green sea turtles, one of the most threatened species of turtles. By July 21, researchers counted 13,683 green turtle nests at the preserve, compared to 4,638 nests during the same time last year, according to the organizations.

When Henning began her career about 25 years ago, it was typical to see just 60 to 70 green turtle nests in one year, she said.

In the 1980s, those numbers were even smaller, with just five or 10 green turtle nests in one year, Cohen said.

Brevard County, where Space Coast is located, is unique because it contains 24 miles of unpopulated coast, much of it on federally protected land such as Archie Carr and Marin Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

“There isn’t really any reason for turtles to not come here,” Henning said.

But the entire state is seeing massive increases in turtle nests, Tonya Long, assistant research scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, told ABC News. Widespread reports from nesting surveyors around the state are showing record-breaking years, especially for loggerheads and green turtles, Long said, describing the phenomenon as “exciting.”

There have been 212,000 sea turtle nests recorded around the state, and the nesting season is not over yet, Joel Cohen, communications director for the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, told ABC News. Last year, the state saw 151,000 turtle nests.

Conservation efforts for sea turtles began in the 1980s following the passing of the Endangered Species Act.

The success story echoes that of the bald eagle and American alligators — other species on the brink of extinction that rebounded as a result of protections from the ESA, Cohen said.

Turtles are a very slow-growing species and often do not return to nest on the beach where they were born until they are about 25 to 30 years of age, which is why the results of the conservation efforts are just now being seen, Cohen said.

Conservationists have been seeing large jumps in the number of nests for the past decade, with those numbers exploding in the past few years, Henning said.

Sea turtles tend to skip nest years, so it is abnormal for two record years to occur consecutively, Henning said.

“That trend has kind of changed for us in that we’re seeing a really high year, and just a high and a high,” she said.

However, because of the slow maturation period, turtle researchers caution against looking at a single year of nesting numbers as a determination of the health of the species.

“Obviously we like to see higher numbers, Long said. “But we have to remember that it’s really the longterm trends that matter. Just because nest numbers are good right now, it doesn’t mean we can relax or remove regulations.”

Especially as climate change continues to threaten both the turtle habitat and their ability to sustain a population in the future, Cohen said.

Not only is sea level rise destroying the beaches where turtles come to nest, the warming climate is causing a disproportionate number of females to be born, since the gender of reptiles is determined by temperature, Cohen said.

In many cases, some nests are producing 100% females, which will severely affect the species ability to sustain healthy populations in the future, he said.

“It’s scary,” Cohen said. “The results of climate change are very obvious in the sea turtle world.”

‘Barn of horrors’: Investigators recall clues that led to body of missing Ohio woman Sierah Joughin

October 27, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(TOLEDO, Ohio) — The disappearance of a young woman from rural Ohio in the summer of 2016 left behind chilling clues discovered in a dark cornfield and a so-called “barn of horrors” owned by a local man with a history of abduction.

Sierah Joughin, 20, was on break from the University of Toledo when she vanished while riding her bicycle home from her boyfriend’s house on the evening of July 19, 2016. Her boyfriend had followed her on his motorcycle for part of the trip. At her request, the two parted ways a short distance from her home in the town of Metamora.

“I remember exactly what I said. I kissed her, I told her I loved her and to text me when she got home,” Josh Kolasinski, Joughin’s boyfriend, told ABC News.

But Joughin never made it home, and that was the last time she was ever seen alive.

A new “20/20” airing Oct. 27 at 9 p.m. ET explores the abduction case, featuring interviews from investigators and Joughin’s loved ones.

After Joughin didn’t return home from the bike ride, her family alerted police. Later that evening, a sheriff’s deputy found her purple bicycle in a cornfield just a half mile away from the home.

Megan Roberts, a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, got a call around 1 a.m. in the morning asking her to assist in processing the crime scene.

Investigators combed the area and found more clues tucked into the cornfield — a screwdriver, men’s sunglasses, a sock, a set of fuse boxes, motorcycle tracks and evidence of a struggle indicated by broken cornstalks and cornstalks with streaks of blood on them.

“It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. You just had this eerie feeling that you knew that this was an abduction site,” Roberts said.

Authorities kept a tight lid on what they found and blocked the road leading to the site. Joughin’s family were left on edge and wondering what authorities had discovered.

“They said, ‘We’re not letting anybody down there,’” Joughin’s mom, Sheila Vaculik, told ABC News. “All’s they could say was that they were investigating.”

When the FBI alerted the family of the bike’s discovery the next morning, they knew something was seriously wrong. The community launched a massive search, walking through the cornfields and scanning for any signs of Joughin.

Police received a bloodstained helmet from a farmer who found it on the side of the road the night Joughin went missing. The farmer brought it to police the next day when he saw the news of Joughin’s disappearance.

Based on the evidence, investigators believed someone riding a motorcycle was involved. They say they had to look at Joughin’s boyfriend as a potential suspect, since he rode a motorcycle and was the last person to see her alive, according to retired Cleveland FBI agent Vicki Anderson-Gregg, who worked on the case.

Kolasinski cooperated with authorities. He drew a map for them of Joughin’s route showing where the couple departed and consented to searches of his residence, motorcycle and truck, according to investigators.

Joughin’s family said Kolasinski took good care of Joughin and they never had any suspicion he was involved with her disappearance.

“We weren’t able to find anything that put us in the direction that Josh had any involvement,” investigator Mark Evans said.

Having cleared her boyfriend, investigators then turned to the likelihood that a stranger may have abducted Joughin on her ride home, possibly in a crime of opportunity.

A break in the case came while investigators were knocking on nearby residents’ doors. Maj. Matt Smithmyer with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said there were several stops he wanted to make, one being the home of James Worley — a man who lived on County Road 6 — the same road that Joughin lived on. Investigators showed up on just a hunch, but to their surprise, they said Worley began acting suspiciously and even made self-incriminating statements placing himself at the scene of Joughin’s suspected abduction.

“Mr. Worley makes a statement about how he was riding his motorcycle. And his bike is having issues. It sputters out. He goes into a cornfield. And he mentions that he lost his helmet, his fuses, his screwdriver and his sunglasses,” Cleveland FBI agent Devon Lossick said.

“I kind of had to stop my jaw from falling. None of that had been released to the media yet,” Lossick said.

When police executed a search warrant on Worley’s barn, they found a crate filled with women’s lingerie and an empty, blood-stained freezer buried underground.

Three days after Joughin’s disappearance, Worley was arrested and charged with her abduction. Later that day, Joughin’s body was discovered tied up, bound and gagged in a shallow grave in another cornfield 2 miles from Worley’s home. Worley was then hit with additional charges, including aggravated murder, kidnapping and felonious assault.

Vaculik said of learning about the heart-wrenching discovery, “It was horrible. Everybody was sobbing and crying and falling to their knees. It was painful, and it just literally sucks the life right out of you.”

Based on the forensic evidence collected at the abduction site and Worley’s barn, investigators believe Worley passed by Joughin on his motorcycle, hid in a cornfield further up the road, then attacked Joughin as she rode by on her bicycle, hitting her in the head with his helmet. They believe Worley then left the scene and returned with his truck, abducted her and took her to his barn, where he kept her until she asphyxiated and then disposed of her body.

There was no evidence of sexual assault, according to investigators.

Investigators say each crime scene was linked to Worley and Joughin through DNA found on the items obtained as evidence.

But before Sierah Joughin there was Robin Gardner, a woman who was abducted by Worley under eerily similar circumstances in 1990 and lived to tell her story. She detailed her ordeal in an interview with ABC News.

Gardner testified in court at the murder trial for Worley, who had pleaded guilty to abducting Gardner and served three years in prison.

“I felt very strongly I had to be [Sierah’s] voice. I knew the fear. She wasn’t there. I had to speak for her,” Gardner told ABC News.

Worley pleaded not guilty to all charges at his murder trial. His defense argued that the lack of Worley’s DNA on some of the evidence meant there was reasonable doubt he kidnapped and murdered Sierah.

The jury found Worley guilty on all counts against him. He was sentenced to death and is on death row awaiting execution. His conviction was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court, but Worley is now exploring a federal appeal.

In 1996, Worley was questioned by police over the disappearance of Claudia Tinsley after her mother reported she last saw her daughter leaving in Worley’s car, retired Toledo police detective Rick Molnar said.

Molnar said that Worley told police he drove around for 45 minutes before dropping her off. Worley denied playing any role in Tinsley’s disappearance, something he recently reiterated to “20/20” in a prison letter. He has never been charged with any crime related to the case.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Joughin’s aunt, Tara Ice, founded Justice for Sierah, a non-profit organization dedicated to making the community safer from repeat offenders. Their advocacy resulted in the passage of Sierah’s Law – an Ohio statute that created a searchable violent criminal database.

“It’s just amazing that [Sierah] is continuing to make changes in this world,” said Cathy Shaffer, Sierah’s grandmother.

In North Carolina, proposed law could help families protect land ownership

October 27, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(BEAUFORT, N.C.) — In America, land is a valuable resource providing economic stability and growth for many people, and is often passed down from generation to generation. But for some low-income and minority Americans, property acreage passed on as a family heirloom can turn into a nightmare.

Melvin Davis, 83, said he never intended for him or his brother, LiCurtis Reels, to end up in jail over their family’s land, but told ABC News it was something he knew he “had to do.”

The brothers are third-generation descendants of Elijah Reels, their great-grandfather who bought nearly 65 acres of land on the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina, in Carteret County in 1911. The land was then passed on to Mitchell Reels, their grandfather, who died without a will, the land later becoming the heirs’ property.

“Land and abundance are what we consider the American dream,” Kim Duhon, Davis and LiCurtis Reels’ niece, told ABC News ahead of the recent premiere of an Amazon Prime Video documentary, “Silver Dollar Road,” which tells the story of the Reels family and their nearly 40-year battle with developers and investors over land they say is rightfully theirs.

The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, currently being considered in the North Carolina Legislature, could help families fight legal discrepancies for property ownership rather than forcing them to sell at auctions with smaller property value.

In North Carolina, if a person dies without a legal will, without formally passing land on to their chosen heirs, and owned property as a tenancy in common, a partition will be triggered if someone owning an interest in the property — one of the tenants in common or a third party who has bought out an interest — files a partition action in court, Jane Sternecky, the Uniform Law Commission legislative counsel responsible for enactment of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, told ABC News. A court could potentially determine how property is partitioned, making more families vulnerable to this issue, she said.

Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act

The bipartisan-supported North Carolina bill was filed in April by state Sens. Benton Sawrey and Paul Lowe, the primary sponsors along with 13 other state senators. The North Carolina Legislature is currently considering the bill, with the state Senate last referring it to committee in April and the state House doing the same in May.

“We didn’t see most Americans having the legal right to own land until after slavery ended, and within the Black community, we acquired a lot of real estate within the years following slavery,” Mavis Gragg, an attorney and conservationist specializing in generational real estate retention and stewardship, told ABC News.

For the Reels family, the property, which has been in the family for more than 100 years, had been passed on through generations

“We’re the only Back family in a coastal water,” Davis told ABC News. “I work off that water.”

As much as 4% of all property in North Carolina — valued at approximately $2 billion — is held as heirs’ property, leaving thousands of predominantly minority and low-income families at risk of losing their ancestral land and homes, according to Wake Forest Law’s Heirs Property Project.

The Heirs’ Property Project, launched In January, assists organizations to provide legal representation for heirs’ property owners.

The Reels family said a distant uncle, who was living in New Jersey at the time, claimed 13.25 of the 65 acres of land and sold it to developers in 1970. That portion of waterfront property is considered the most valuable, and is where Davis and LiCurtis Reels lived.

“Oftentimes, a developer will sort of work to get inside the family and use a court to force the sale of the land. The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act does a lot to curtail that. It would really change the game in terms of protecting people’s land in the state,” Jesse Williams, law fellow at the Wake Forest Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, told ABC News.

According to a Boston College Law School legal studies research paper published in 2022, there was a nearly 90% decline in Black agricultural land ownership from 1910 to 1997. The paper estimates that the “compounded value of the Black land loss from 1920 to 1997 is roughly $326 billion.”

“Our legal system has always been a very inhumane base for us in many respects, including real estate ownership,” Gragg said. “Presently, what we see in terms of loss within the Black community has to do with the form of ownership or inherited real estate and the bundle of rights, the legal bundle of rights that come with that form of ownership. What we’re seeing is predatory behavior using the law and focusing on particularly vulnerable communities.”

“This has been a nightmare”

During a hearing in 2011, a judge ruled that the brothers, who lived on the acres their distant uncle sold a portion of the property, were to be held in civil contempt for refusing to vacate the land, according to court documents. They were held in contempt in the Carteret County Jail for nearly eight years and were released in 2019.

At the time, Davis and LiCurtis Reels were held under civil contempt in the custody of the Carteret County Detention Center until they agreed to “tear down their personal structures, vacate the property, and agree not to return to the land,” according to court documents obtained by ABC News.

“I never signed no papers,” Davis added.

The brothers were never convicted of a crime and are “two of the longest-serving inmates for civil contempt in U.S. history,” according to ProPublica reporting from 2019.

“This has been a nightmare. I didn’t intend for it to get like this,” Davis told ABC News. “We fought as hard as we could, and I didn’t see any other way but to go to jail for this. And I sat there for eight years until they turned me loose.”

North Carolina Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck told ABC News his job is to enforce the order of the court. “I’m not an advocate for one side or the other; it’s my job to carry out the order of the court,” Buck said.

After several attempted appeals, the brothers were released in 2019 with the help of a local attorney.

Scott Schang, professor of practice at Wake Forest Law’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, says they’re not the only ones who’ve faced imprisonment over land.

“It’s not uncommon, we have other clients who have faced jail time or been threatened with criminal fraud charges because they were trying to protect their land,” Schang told ABC News.

North Carolina legislation

Attorneys and lawmakers are working to change that with the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which is a law that could protect families from the legal loopholes of losing their property.

“This is an act that specifically gives people additional due process rights in the event. They’re a parcel of heirs’ property is partitioned either by a member of the family or someone who requires an extra share of that property, or one of their shares of that property, and attempts to partition,” Sternecky said.

“It would really change the game in terms of protecting people’s land in the state,” Schang said.

According to legislators, the bill won’t be introduced until the state Senate begins its long session next year, but there’s a chance the act could pass in some form in 2024.

“One of the biggest things is that unlike virtually every state in the Southeast, including all of its neighboring states, North Carolina has yet to pass the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA),” Williams told ABC News. “It’s passed bipartisanly all over the country, and it does a lot to protect heirs property owners, to protect Black family land, to protect land owned by low-income folks across North Carolina.”

“It puts in place some checks and balances in the system to make sure that families can essentially have a fair day in court as it relates to the sale of their property,” Brian Turner, policy director of the Audubon Society of North Carolina, a nonprofit environmental organization, told ABC News. Turner served two terms in the North Carolina state House representing Buncombe County.

“We’re not trying to ban partition sales. We’re trying to ban predatory sells,” he said.

“It’s a blessing to have that land”

The Reels family says they’re working with attorneys to help them secure their land for future heirs.

“For Black people, if you have any land, and you can live on that land, and you can attain a nice home, and have a decent job, that is a big goal, you know that that is a major goal,” Mamie Reels, Davis and LiCurtis Reels’ sister, said. “So having that land is a blessing, because you can’t make land.”

“We were called defiant. We were called ignorant. We were considered uneducated people… and where we came from, this land was valued more than what we were worth, so we didn’t deserve to live on that land, and we didn’t deserve to have it, because we were never going to do anything with it,” Mamie Reels said.

She added, “We didn’t want condos, we didn’t want fancy houses. We live good, but we knew that all of this could bring even more financial burden to us because we couldn’t afford the taxes. So, we weren’t worried about condos and big subdivisions, because we enjoyed it. That’s our little country club.”

“It says a lot about tenacity and our strength to hold on. We stuck together, and it brought us closer. It cemented our family values,” Duhon told ABC News. “Our battle could be theirs [other families]. It doesn’t matter what color you are; it doesn’t matter how much money you have — fight for what is yours.”

Maine shooting live updates: Massive manhunt continues for suspect as new details emerge

October 27, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LEWISTON, MAINE) — At least 18 people were killed in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said. Thirteen others are injured.

The suspect, Robert Card, is still at large.

The shooting unfolded in two locations: a bowling alley where a children’s league was taking place and a local bar, officials said.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 27, 7:34 AM EDT
What we know about suspect Robert Card

A manhunt is now into its second day for Robert Card, the suspect in a mass shooting in Maine that killed at least 18 people and wounded 13 others, officials said.

The suspected gunman — identified as 40-year-old Robert Card — is a U.S. Army reservist, the Army confirmed.

Card’s family is cooperating with authorities, law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News. Card’s sister told investigators she thought Card might have been looking for an ex-girlfriend at the shooting locations, the sources said. One avenue of investigation is whether this mass shooting began as a domestic dispute, according to the sources.

Card was previously married. His ex-wife filed for the divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, which was granted in 2007 with shared custody of the couple’s minor child, court documents show. The divorce order was amended in 2013 to include shared parental rights and responsibilities of the child, whose primary residence was with his mother, the documents show.

The suspect appears to have “interacted with conspiratorial content” online, information provided to law enforcement shows.

Topics he engaged with included but were not limited to: concerns about a financial crisis/stock market, LGBTQ+ issues, gun rights and commentary about Democratic public officials, including President Joe Biden, the information shows.

Card has been a U.S. Army reservist since December 2002, the Army said. His current rank is as a sergeant first class and his job is a petroleum supply specialist. He has no combat deployments.

Oct 26, 9:55 PM EDT
Card had affiliations at both targeted locations: Sources

A law enforcement source with direct knowledge tells ABC News that Robert Card had affiliations with the two locations he allegedly targeted.

An ex-girlfriend is connected to one of the locations. According to the source, “We don’t think this was completely random.”

The suspect also appears to have been fairly thoughtful about eluding police. He left behind a cellphone that authorities have recovered apparently suspecting it could be tracked.

-ABC News’ Pierre Thomas

Oct 26, 9:36 PM EDT
Search at home tied to suspect winds down