More than 1,000 people gathered Sunday evening for a vigil to remember those killed and injured in Maine’s worst mass shooting, some putting their heads in their hands as the 18 names of those who died were read. Others quietly wept.

The vigil at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston came two days after the body of suspected gunman Robert Card was found. The 40-year-old’s body was discovered in a trailer at a recycling center in Lisbon Falls. Card died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound though it was unclear when, authorities said. Card was also suspected of injuring 13 people in the shooting rampage Wednesday night in Lewiston.

The Rev Todd Little from the First United Pentecostal Church of Lewiston spoke at the vigil of a diverse community that shares something new in common after the tragedy — “shared brokenness, worry, fear and loss.”

He also vowed that the community is bigger than the tragedy and will emerge not just “Lewiston Strong” but “Lewiston Stronger.’

“We will not be defined by the tragedies that happened. Fear, anxiety and trepidation will not dictate our present or our future,” he said.

Earlier in the day, several church services were shaped by the shooting and subsequent lockdown that lasted several days. A the morning mass for Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, several women wore black veils in the cavernous sanctuary, where a church official said they are raising funds to help shooting victims and others hurt by “the horrible events in our small town.”

“We can see the rays of light in darkness,“ the Rev. Daniel Greenleaf told those present. He said that it is for times like this that they have “practiced” their faith for.

“We cannot fix this, but then again human beings are not machines to be fixed,” Greenleaf added.

At Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, arriving church members warmly greeted each other. But the atmosphere turned somber when the Rev. Brian Ganong brought up the tragedy. He prayed for those fighting for their lives, those who lost family and friends, first responders and medical workers, and others — including the Card family, who he said had ties to some members of the church.

“It did happen. We may never know the reason why,” he said, encouraging the congregation to seek solace through a higher being.

Authorities recovered a multitude of weapons during their search for Card and believe he had legally purchased his guns, including those recovered in his car and near his body, said Jim Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He declined to provide specific details about the guns, their make and model, nor exactly how many were found.

Investigators are still searching for a motive for the massacre, but have increasingly been focused on Card’s mental health history. State Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said Card had been hearing voices and had paranoia.

Card believed “people were talking about him and there may even have been some voices at play,” Sauschuck said.

Family members of Card told federal investigators that he had recently discussed hearing voices and became more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the investigation.

Street life began returning to Lewiston in the city of 37,000. Police missed two clear opportunities to end the lockdown sooner, after failing to find Card’s body in searches of the recycling center Thursday night and early Friday.

For many residents, Sunday was a day to reflect, mourn and, for some, to take the first tentative steps toward normalcy. Some went hunting on the opening day of firearm season for deer, and one family handed out buckets of flowers in downtown. Others gathered at a makeshift memorial to the victims down the street from the bar targeted by Card.

But there were still reminders of the shooting.

Over at Schemengees Bar & Grille, one of the shooting sites, workers in white hazmat suits could be seen methodically cleaning up a staircase. Yellow tape surrounded the site and a small memorial had emerged near the bar, featuring colorful balloons, flowers and a poster that read: “Be Strong Lewiston.”

Parishioners from a Westbrook, Maine, church also came to the site to pay their respects to those killed or injured. With some holding signs honoring the victims, they stood and sang church hymns in front of a memorial featuring flowers, several white crosses and carved pumpkins.

“What happened three or four days ago is very, very painful. When we heard that, we decided to come up from here, sing and share this moment,” said Remy Kazengu, a deacon at the New Apostolic Church in Portland, Maine, some of whose parishioners live in Lewiston and knew some of the shooting victims.

Leroy Walker, an Auburn city councilor and father of one of the victims, was greeting people at a trick-or-treat event on Sunday hosted by an organization he leads.

He smiled broadly when the children hugged him, and accepted hugs from community members. But he became emotional when he spoke of his son, Joseph, who normally would’ve joined him at the event.

“It’s been a tough few days, trust me. The heart doesn’t stop bleeding,” he said. “I miss him every minute. I miss him more every day.”

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.

Three of the injured remained in critical condition at Central Maine Medical Center, and a fourth was stable, hospital officials said. Another patient was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, and the rest were discharged.

A stay-at-home order in place during the massive search was lifted Friday afternoon, hours before authorities announced they had found Card’s body at the Maine Recycling Corp.

The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.

Shocked and fearful Maine residents kept to their homes for a second night as hundreds of heavily armed police and FBI agents searched intensely for Robert Card, an Army reservist authorities say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in the worst mass killing in state history.

Much of Thursday’s (October 26) search focused on a property belonging to one of Card’s relatives in rural Bowdoin, where trucks and vans full of armed agents from the FBI and other agencies eventually surrounded a home. Card and anyone else inside were repeatedly ordered to surrender.

“You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police said through a loudspeaker. In most instances when police execute warrants — even for suspects wanted for violent crimes — they move quickly to enter the home.

But hours later, after repeated announcements and a search, authorities moved off and it was still unclear whether Card had ever been at the location, state police said.

Richard Goddard, who lives on the road where the search took place, knows the Card family. Robert Card, who is four years younger, knows the terrain well, Goddard said.

“This is is his stomping ground. He grew up here,” he said. “He knows every ledge to hide behind, every thicket.”

Several homes were being searched and every lead pursued in the hunt for Card, a 40-year-old with firearms instructor training. Authorities said he should be considered armed and dangerous and not approached.

Card is suspected of opening fire with at least one rifle at a bar and a bowling alley Wednesday in Lewiston, which is about 24kms from Bowdoin and is Maine’s second-largest city. The evening shootings killed 18 people and wounded 13 others, with three people still hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

The victims of the shootings include Bob Violette, 76, a retiree who was coaching a youth bowling league and was described as devoted, approachable and kind. Auburn City Councillor Leroy Walker told media outlets that his son, Joe, a manager at the bar and grille, died going after the gunman with a butcher knife. Peyton Brewer-Ross was a dedicated pipefitter at Bath Iron Works whose death leaves a gaping void in the lives of his partner, young daughter and friends, members of his union said.

Authorities have not said how many guns were used or how they were obtained.

Schools, doctor’s offices and grocery stores closed and people stayed behind locked doors in cities as far as 80kms from the scenes of the shootings. Maine’s largest city, Portland, closed its public buildings, while Canada Border Services Agency issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to its officers stationed along the U.S. border.

Streets in Lewiston and surrounding communities were virtually deserted late on October 26 night. The occasional truck or police patrol would drive through neighbourhoods dotted with illuminated giant pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween.

Schools in Lewiston were to remain closed Friday, while those in Portland would decide in the morning whether to open. Bates College in Lewiston also cancelled classes Friday and postponed the inauguration of the school’s first Black president.

April Stevens lives in the same neighbourhood where one of the shootings took place. She turned on all her lights overnight and locked her doors. She knew someone killed at the bar and another person injured who needed surgery.

“We’re praying for everyone,” Stevens said through tears.

The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills promised to do whatever was needed to find Card and to “hold whoever is responsible for this atrocity accountable… and to seek full justice for the victims and their families.”

As authorities searched for Card, details about his recent behaviour emerged. Card underwent a mental health evaluation in mid-July after he began acting erratically while with his reserve regiment, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

A bulletin sent to police across the country after the attack said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer after “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” a military base.

Maine doesn’t require permits to carry guns, and the state has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its traditions of hunting and sport shooting. Keeping in mind the strong support for gun rights, lawmakers passed a “yellow flag” law in 2019 that would require police to seek a medical evaluation of anyone believed to be dangerous before then trying to take their guns away. However, critics charged that it was a weaker version of the tougher “red flag” laws that many other states have adopted.

A neighbour, Dave Letarte, said Card’s family let them deer hunt on their property and were kind, although Letarte said he noticed Card appeared to have mental problems for a while.

“People have problems, but you don’t expect them to go on the deep end like that,” Letarte said. “When we saw it on the news last night, I was shocked.”

A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service. A woman who answered a phone number for one of Card’s relatives said Thursday afternoon the family was helping the FBI. She didn’t give her name or additional details.

Eight murder warrants were issued for Card after authorities identified eight of the victims, police said. Ten more will likely be issued once the names of the rest of the dead are confirmed, said Maine State Police Col. William Ross.

Three of the 13 people wounded in the shootings were in critical condition and five were hospitalized but stable, Central Maine Medical Center officials said.

The attack started at Just-In-Time Recreation, where a children’s bowling league was taking place, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Patrick Poulin was supposed to be at the bowling centre with his 15-year-old son, who is in a league that was practicing Wednesday. They stayed home, but he estimates there were probably several dozen young bowlers, ages 4 to 18, along with their parents, in the facility. Poulin’s brother was there, he said, and shepherded some of the children outside when the shooting began.

“He’s pretty shook up,” Poulin said on October 26. “And it’s just sinking in today, like, wow, I was very close to being there. And a lot of the people that got hurt, I know.”

Less than 15 minutes later, numerous 911 calls started coming in from Schemengees Bar and Grille a few miles away.

The search for Card covered both land and water. The Coast Guard sent out a patrol boat Thursday morning along the Kennebec River, but after hours of searching, they found “nothing out of the ordinary,” said Chief Petty Officer Ryan Smith, who is in charge of the Coast Guard’s Boothbay Harbor Station.

A car believed to belong to Card had been discovered by a boat launch in the town of Lisbon near the Androscoggin River, which connects to the Kennebec, and Card’s 4.5-metre boat remains unaccounted for, Smith said.

In many past U.S. mass shootings, the suspect was found — whether dead or alive — within minutes. But Card was still on the loose a full day after the shootings.

Lewiston was mostly empty on an unusually warm fall day on October 26. Changeable message signs reminded people to stay behind locked doors.

At Bates College, students stayed in dorms with the blinds closed, said Diana Florence, whose son is a sophomore. She has a daughter who is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was locked down twice last month for a shooting and a man with a gun.

“I could not believe it — that this is happening again. It’s happening to my son after it just happened to my daughter,” she said in a phone interview on October 26.

The shootings mark the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

An unidentified shooter points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. 
| Photo Credit: AP

At least 22 people were killed and 50 to 60 wounded on Wednesday in mass shootings at multiple locations including a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, U.S., NBC News reported, citing a Lewiston police source.

The Lewiston Police Department on Facebook identified a person of interest in the mass shooting at the bar and bowling alley as Robert Card, 40, saying he should be “considered armed and dangerous.”

Police earlier posted three photographs of an unidentified suspect pointing what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle, in addition to a picture of a white SUV, asking the public for help in identifying either.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office also posted pictures of the suspect, a bearded man in a brown hoodie jacket and jeans holding a rifle in the firing position.

“There is an active shooter in Lewiston,” Maine state police said previously on the social media platform X. “We ask people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked. Law enforcement is currently investigating at multiple locations.”

The Sun Journal, citing a Lewiston police spokesperson, reported shootings at three separate businesses: the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley, Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, and a Walmart distribution centre.

The bowling alley is about four miles (6.5 km) north of the bar, and the distribution centre is about a mile and a half (2.5 km) south of the bar.

The Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston issued a statement saying it was “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event” and coordinating with area hospitals to take patients.

Lewiston is part of and about 35 miles (56 k.m.) north of Maine’s largest city, Portland.

Lewiston, a former textile hub and town of 38,000 people in Androscoggin County, is located in southern Maine about midway between the state capital, Augusta, and Portland, the state’s most populous city

President Joe Biden has been briefed and will continue to receive updates, a U.S. official said in Washington.

The President spoke by phone individually to Maine Governor Janet Mills, Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, and Congressman Jared Golden about the shooting in Lewiston and offered full federal support in the wake of the attack, the White House said.

If the death toll of 22 is confirmed, the massacre would be the deadliest in the United States since at least August 2019, when a gunman opened fire on shoppers at an El Paso Walmart with an AK-47 rifle, killing 23 in a shooting that prosecutors branded an anti-Hispanic hate crime, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The 22 fatalities would also be on par with the number of homicides that normally occur in Maine in any given year. The number of annual homicides in the state has fluctuated between 16 and 29 since 2012, according to Maine State Police.

The number of U.S. shootings in which four or more people were shot has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, with 647 occurring in 2022 and 679 projected to occur in 2023, based on trends as of July, according to data from the archive.

The deadliest U.S. mass shooting on record is the massacre of 58 people by a gunman firing on a Las Vegas country music festival from a high-rise hotel perch in 2017.