The suspected gunman who shot and killed eighteen people in a double shooting in the US state of Maine on Wednesday evening was found dead on Friday. Governor Janet Mills announced this on Friday evening during a press conference, international news agencies report. This puts an end to an intensive two-day manhunt.
Hundreds of officers were looking for 40-year-old Robert Card. Divers had also already been deployed to search a nearby river. The possible shooter probably took his own life, authorities report. He was found in the woods near the town of Lisbon, about eight miles southeast of Lewiston, where Wednesday’s massacre took place.
There is currently no motive for the shootings. Card was an Army reservist and shooting instructor with a history of mental health problems and domestic violence. This summer he was admitted to a clinic for two weeks because he complained of voices in his head. On Thursday, authorities found a suicide note at Card’s home, addressed to his son. The note would not indicate a specific motive for the double shooting at the bowling center and diner.
The mass shooting once again raises questions about why someone with Card’s history could possess such a firearm. US President Joe Biden has called on the Republican opposition in Congress to “fulfill their obligation to keep the American people safe” and support proposals for stricter gun legislation. The shooting is the deadliest in the United States this year.
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