THIRD UPDATE, 5:09 PM: The FBI is surrounding the Bowdoin, ME home of the mass shooting suspect of Robert Card, a scene captured by CNN and other news networks.
CNN captured law enforcement vehicles around the home, with spotlights shifting to various parts of the home. The network reported
CNN”s Brian Todd reported hearing law enforcement shout “come out with your hands up” and other commands over a loud speaker. The network’s Shimon Prokupecz was in a different vantage point outside the house.
It was unclear whether the suspect was actually in the house, and reporters said that authorities had not heard any response to their commands.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper told viewers that the network was “not discussing any tactical moves that our reporters may witness over the course of this.” He said that law enforcement asked journalists to turn off lights “and we have done that obviously as well.”
Fox News also went to the scene during its primetime opinion hours, with Jesse Watters turning to Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, offering his take. “He’s probably booby trapped it for people to walk up,” Chapman said of the suspect. “Where he’s got things — who knows —some kind of something where he knows when someone is coming.”
He added, “I have chased a lot of these guys, these mental guys, when before they are released from these mental hospitals, nowadays, we’re going to give them a bunch of pills. ‘OK, you’re fixed. Take three of these a day and keep on truckin’.”
“Especially these military guys from the VA — they drug them up. There’s nothing else they can do, and they kick them out. So it could be drugs, but again, the voices. That is what scares me. The voices telling him what to do. This is like, impossible, where he kills all these people and then goes home. Well, I have never heard of that. Even Charlie Manson had more brains.”
Chapman also noted the possibility that the suspect was not even in the house, but “wherever he is at, he is booby trapped and ready.”
SECOND UPDATE, 10:22 AM: NBC Nightly News‘ Lester Holt is headed to Lewiston, Maine to anchor tonight’s broadcast, as a manhunt continues for a suspect in a mass shooting.
Cynthia McFadden will also share a personal essay about growing up in Lewiston, the latest community to be impacted by mass gun violence.
ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir also will report from Maine this evening, and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis will be in Lewiston. CNN News Central‘s John Berman has been anchoring from the area since 1 pm ET today.
UPDATE, 5:38 AM: Maine Governor Janet Mills said that 18 people were killed and 13 were injured in the mass shooting in Lewiston, with the assailant still at large.
President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. flags to be lowered to half staff in memory of those who died.
Maine State Police have issued a “shelter in place” order in Lewiston, Lisbon and Bowdoin as the manhunt continues for Robert Card, identified as the person of interest in the attack, Mills said. Card is considered “armed and dangerous and police advise that Maine people should not approach him under any circumstances,” she said.
Col. William Ross of Maine State Police said that Card’s vehicle had been found.
“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 advised residents on social media.
PREVIOUSLY OCT 26 AM: The three major news networks devoted their morning coverage to the mass shooting in Maine, as authorities conduct a massive manhunt to find a “person of interest.”
There were conflicting reports of the numbers of those who were killed when the assailant opened fire at two locations in Lewiston, including at a bowling alley and a bar and grill.
Robert Card, 40, described as a firearms instructor, was identified as a “person of interest.” As the search continued, CNN has been running a photo of the person of interest in the right bottom corner of screens. Officials say that he “made threats to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine,” per CNN.
Police also distributed images of a white SUV that is confirmed to be the suspect’s car.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the mass shooting on Wednesday evening, when he was hosting a State Dinner for the prime minister of Australia.
— Ted Johnson
PREVIOUSLY, OCT 25 PM: Lewiston police told NBC News that at least 22 people were dead.
Earlier, law enforcement confirmed at least 16 people are dead and dozens more have been injured after a bowling alley came under fire in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday evening. Some reports indicate as many as 50 people may have been hurt.
Reports are circulating of shots fired at additional locations, including a local bar, according to law enforcement.
A suspect is not yet in custody. Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of the alleged gunman on Facebook Wednesday evening, asking for identification help via messenger or email.
Maine Governor Janet Mills posted on X that she was aware of the situation and urging “all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement. I will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.”
Reports of the shooting dominated the cable news channels primetime, as well as on BBC World News. On Fox News, late night talk show Gutfeld! was preempted for more coverage of the tragedy in Maine, with Trace Gallagher anchoring from Israel.
Earlier in the evening, ABC cut into regularly scheduled programming with an ABC News Special Report.NBC News’ Lester Holt cut in twice to the Comcast-owned network with reports around 9:40 pm ET and 10 pm ET.
Lewiston police wrote in a Facebook post they are attempting to locate 40-year-old Robert Card, of Bowdoin as a person of interest. He is considered to be armed and dangerous, according to police, and members of the public are advised to not approach him or make any contact.