ME - Lewiston, Mass Shooting, Multiple Scenes - Oct 2023

[imstilla.grandma]

There is an arrest warrant out for eight counts of murder for Card, authorities said Thursday morning. Eight of the shooting victims have been identified and their families have been notified, and the counts will likely increase as the remaining victims are identified, officials said

Card attended the University of Maine as an engineering student but it was unknown whether he graduated from the school, CBS Boston reported. His last known address was in Bowdoin.

He also has connections to Massachusetts, sources told CBS News Boston, but the exact nature of his ties to Massachusetts were not immediately clear. Massachusetts State Police are stationed at the Maine border along with federal agents. Officers were also stationed along the Maine border and the New Hampshire border as a precaution
Who is Robert Card? Confirmed details on Maine shooting suspect

 

[Justice101]

Nice find! My Flightradar is not showing that active search..

 

[Justice101]

Interesting: N109US Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware
ETA - this seems to be near the boat launch/Androscoggin River where the car was found rather than the Kennebec River

View attachment 456057

Now I found it. The helicopter route (shown below in yellow) is continuing to make wider and wider sweeps in circles around the Androscoggin River at Route 196.

Ok, now the helicopter has completely left and is heading back to the south of Lewiston at Route 202.

Maybe time for a refueling... but looks like that river has been searched.

Something is definitely up though. He went around and around that river intersection probably 15 times. This is south from the place where his car/boat was reportedly at.

I wonder if he spotted them if he is relaying word to the ground.

 

[arielilane]

Maine State Police say barring any significant developments — there will be no more press conferences today on the manhunt: Shelter in place orders remain in place.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1717625659542184022

 

[Justice101]

Now there is a second helicopter circling to the north of Lisbon... near Dandelion Road...

However, this helicopter might be just a news crew

 

[Irishknit]

Maine State Police say barring any significant developments — there will be no more press conferences today on the manhunt: Shelter in place orders remain in place.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1717625659542184022

I appreciate them not turning this into a 3 ring circus, keeping the focus where it should be, finding this suspect.

 

[sds71]

Bryan MacFarlane, 40, was participating in a cornhole tournament at Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant when he was killed during Wednesday’s mass shooting in Lewiston, his sister Keri Brooks told CNN.

MacFarlane, who’s part of the local deaf community, usually goes to Schemengees on Wednesdays where other deaf people gather to play cornhole, Brooks said.

Brooks found out about MacFarlane’s passing Thursday morning after police showed up at her mother’s door to notify the family.

“I grew up in Maine and the deaf community is a tight-knit community,” Brooks said. “Not only was my brother slain but my friends were too,” she said, speaking about the other victims she has learned about.

October 25, 2023 - Lewiston, Maine mass shootings

A manhunt is underway after a shooting rampage occurred in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, according to multiple law enforcement sources. Follow here for live news updates.

www.cnn.com

 

[Dhighsmith]

I’m likely missing key info but if he threatened a military installation, would’ve that triggered VA mental health treatment or a thorough military investigation into his threats?

Is the VA mental health facilities more effective in availability of treatment options than that of civilian options, which struggle from challenges in the overall mental health care system and lack of support from long term treatment facilities?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Flags were ordered to be flown at half-staff for several days this week to honor and remember the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which left at least 18 people killed and more than a dozen others injured.

Under a proclamation from President Joe Biden, flags were ordered to remain at half-staff through Oct. 30 "as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on October 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine."

Flags ordered flown at half-staff for several days in remembrance of Lewiston, Maine, shooting victims

Flags were ordered to be flown at half-staff for several days this week to honor and remember the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which left at least 18 people killed and more than a dozen others injured.

www.nbcchicago.com

 

[Betty P]

I’m likely missing key info but if he threatened a military installation, would’ve that triggered VA mental health treatment or a thorough military investigation into his threats?

Is the VA mental health facilities more effective in availability of treatment options than that of civilian options, which struggle from challenges in the overall mental health care system and lack of support from long term treatment facilities?

I don't have a link but earlier today on CNN, they reported he had been in a "military" hospital for 2 weeks during the summer. That may have been a VA hospital. I think they said it was in central NY.

 

[10ofRods]

The FBI’s definition of a “mass shooting event” is way too broad, IMO. The data collected using that criteria (4 or more people killed within a 24 hour period) is just too misleading. Because the data includes domestic and gang related events.

Of course, any event where 4 or more people is killed by the same person(s) within 24 hours is equally as tragic as any other… BUT that’s not what the general public thinks about when they hear the term “mass shooting”. They think about a shooter or shooters killing at random in a public place. At least, that’s what I think about anyway.

The New York Times uses a similar but more exclusive definition — 4 or more people killed within 24 hours with no other crime involved. Using this criteria, 8 mass shootings have occurred this year (including this one).

1. Monterey Park, CA - Lunar New Year Party (January 21)
2. Half Moon Bay, CA - mushroom farms (January 23)
3. Nashville, TN - Christian School (March 27)
4. Louisville, KY - bank shooting (April 10)
5. Allen, TX - outlet shops (May 6)
6. Philadelphia, PA - 4th of July celebration (July 3)
7. Hampton, GA - ATL suburb (July 15)
8. Lewiston, ME - bowling alley & bar (October 25)

Maine Mass Shooting Is America’s 8th, and Deadliest, This Year (Published 2023)

Here is how The New York Times tallies mass shootings.

www.nytimes.com

The FBI has that definition for good reasons. It really helps to subdivide the broader category into subtypes (which has been done by the United States Mass Shooter Database). There are commonalities among mass murderers, and the main types are in fact domestic violence and gang/mafia criminal violence. The other types are more rare.

I realize the public is more interested in random stranger mass shootings or shootings in schools and hospitals, but this shooting (to me) has parallels to the other kinds of mass shootings (including DV). This was a place known to the shooter. He believed he knew the people (IMO) and that they knew him. So while it took place in public, it does have some features in common with family violence. I don't know the size of the town, but apparently the shooter was known to nearly everyone inside that bowling alley. It's an "assault on the village" kind of thing (and that has some history behind it).

Of course, the FBI (and all of us who study crime) appear to be legally helpless in our current system to do much about mentally ill individuals (esp. in this atypical case) who bear arms.

I DO like your approach to the list for journalistic and educational purposes. It really puts the situation into stark relief. Leaving out the DV and organized criminal behavior really helps us realize that this problem is not quite as big as it seems if we use the FBI metric. The Half Moon Bay shootings also involved persons known to each other (and was a sort of workplace violence). The Lunar New Year Party may have had elements of both DV and criminal activity - that one is a really hard one to parse, I should go look at it again.

It's great to meet another person with a strong interest in mass murders (the Bryan Kohberger case is another one that is aimed at a community, like this one is, although his ties to the victims are much less well documented, if they exist).

All my opinion, of course, just before I go check the news again. I fear that this shooter may attempt more violence.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The family of the Army reservist accused of fatally shooting more than a dozen people in Lewiston, Maine, alerted police and military officials that he was experiencing an “acute” mental health episode before the Wednesday night massacre, the suspect’s sister-in-law said.

Robert Card, 40, a firearms instructor and longtime member of the Army Reserve, began to hear voices that were saying “horrible” things about him a couple of months ago when he was fitted for high-powered hearing aids, according to Katie Card, who is married to his brother.

Katie Card said the family did their best to reassure Robert Card that the comments were not real, including by verifying with some of the people he claimed had made the remarks. But, she said, “it turned into a manic belief.”

“He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she said.

Family of Maine shooting suspect says his mental health had deteriorated rapidly

The sister-in-law of Robert Card said they had contacted his Army Reserve unit and police after he began hearing voices.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[10ofRods]

I don't have a link but earlier today on CNN, they reported he had been in a "military" hospital for 2 weeks during the summer. That may have been a VA hospital. I think they said it was in central NY.

I read that it was a V.A. Hospital. I'll go find the article. They kept him for the legal maximum (I thought it was in ME, thank you for the NY reference).

=====
Back - couldn't find anything in print about a V.A. Hospital (maybe I assumed?) But I thought for sure I heard it on broadcast news. Maybe someone else can find it.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Has anyone come across any images of his boat that he may possibly be on / have used? I think with all the waterways in that area, esp as you get near the coast, they really need to publish photos so people can be on the lookout and I can't locate any.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“While this is not our investigation, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for answers to these questions,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. “We have kept a close watch here. We made a decision to marshal our resources. There is no specific threat to New York City, but to me, we could not remain idle.”

NYPD prepared if Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card comes to NYC

“While this is not our investigation, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for answers to these questions,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban

www.nydailynews.com

 

[waldojabba]

Note found at home of alleged gunman in Maine mass shooting: Law enforcement officials

A note was found in the home of the alleged Maine mass shooter, according to multiple law enforcement officials, as a manhunt was underway to find the man who allegedly killed 18 people and critically injured more than a dozen others after opening fire at multiple locations.

www.nbcboston.com

Note found at home of alleged gunman in Maine mass shooting: Law enforcement officials

 

[Inthedetails]

Bryan MacFarlane, 40, was participating in a cornhole tournament at Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant when he was killed during Wednesday’s mass shooting in Lewiston, his sister Keri Brooks told CNN.

MacFarlane, who’s part of the local deaf community, usually goes to Schemengees on Wednesdays where other deaf people gather to play cornhole, Brooks said.

Brooks found out about MacFarlane’s passing Thursday morning after police showed up at her mother’s door to notify the family.

“I grew up in Maine and the deaf community is a tight-knit community,” Brooks said. “Not only was my brother slain but my friends were too,” she said, speaking about the other victims she has learned about.

October 25, 2023 - Lewiston, Maine mass shootings

A manhunt is underway after a shooting rampage occurred in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, according to multiple law enforcement sources. Follow here for live news updates.

www.cnn.com

As an aside: In college, my research partner one semester was a deaf student. We ended up being friends and when he found out I bowled, he invited me to his bowling league. I was taken aback when I arrived and he wondered why. I said, "It's so quiet!" All I heard was the noise of the pins going down, when at my league there was always loud talking, etc. He thought that was hilarious and said, "It's not quiet to me!"

It's a great memory of cross-cultural connection. The thought of a tight-knit deaf community (or any community) being targeted and shot is heartbreaking. My condolences to them all.

jmo

 

[sds71]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1717642077243121938

We’re on West Rd in Bowdoin where officers in marked cruisers from Massachusetts are blocking the road. Large police presence as well

https://x.com/DanWGME/status/1717642975264620689?s=20

 

[MrsWatson]

As Mr. Rogers says he was told, "Look for the helpers."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/lewiston-maine-shooting-manhunt-gunman-police-live-rcna122270#rcrd23350

LEWISTON, Maine — Maine’s second largest city has been transformed into a ghost town by the shooting. Streets are empty, businesses closed, parks deserted. Even major chains like 7-11, McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, the venerable New England favorite, are shuttered.

That’s been making it difficult for some to find food as the lockdown drags on. A mom-and-pop corner shop that was still open was swarmed with customers, clearing shelves of chips and packaged pastries.

One of the only places around to get a hot meal is from a Jamaican food truck, where chef Jeff Bailey and his daughter Gabriel decided to open their business exclusively for first responders, with one catch — they refuse to accept any money.

Their crew has been making runs to drop off jerk chicken, beef and more at the hospital, where medical staff have been working through the night, and have offered free food to police officers and reporters covering the scene.

 

[Inthedetails]

As Mr. Rogers says he was told, "Look for the helpers."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/lewiston-maine-shooting-manhunt-gunman-police-live-rcna122270#rcrd23350

LEWISTON, Maine — Maine’s second largest city has been transformed into a ghost town by the shooting. Streets are empty, businesses closed, parks deserted. Even major chains like 7-11, McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, the venerable New England favorite, are shuttered.

That’s been making it difficult for some to find food as the lockdown drags on. A mom-and-pop corner shop that was still open was swarmed with customers, clearing shelves of chips and packaged pastries.

One of the only places around to get a hot meal is from a Jamaican food truck, where chef Jeff Bailey and his daughter Gabriel decided to open their business exclusively for first responders, with one catch — they refuse to accept any money.

Their crew has been making runs to drop off jerk chicken, beef and more at the hospital, where medical staff have been working through the night, and have offered free food to police officers and reporters covering the scene.

That brought tears to my eyes. Nice people.

jmo