The Army reservist who opened fire in a bowling alley and then at a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, was found dead Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot, ending an intensive two-day search that had the state on edge.
Robert Card, a firearms instructor who grew up in the area, was found dead in nearby Lisbon Falls, Gov. Janet Mills said at a Friday night news conference.
“Like many people I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said.
Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said Card was found at 7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of where the second shooting occurred Wednesday evening. He declined to divulge the location but an official told The Associated Press the body was at a recycling center from which Card had been fired.
The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mills said she had called President Joe Biden to alert him that Card was dead.
“Tonight we’re grateful that Lewiston and surrounding communities are safe after spending excruciating days hiding in their homes,” Biden said in a statement. He added that “Americans should not have to live like this” and called on Congress to take action on gun violence.
The deadliest shootings in Maine history stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and had only 29 killings in all of 2022. In Lewiston, the 37,000 residents and those in surrounding communities were told to stay in their homes as hundreds of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, FBI agents and other law enforcement officials swarmed the area.
