Several schools closed as police hunt for shooter after 16 killed in Maine

Schools are closed on Thursday in several Maine communities and police news conference is planned the day after a man shot and killed at least 16 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley and then fled into the night.

A man shot and killed at least 16 people at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents in multiple communities stayed locked in their homes Thursday under a shelter-in-place advisory.

A police bulletin identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in the attack that sent panicked bowlers scrambling behind pins when shots rang out around 7 p.m. Wednesday. Card was described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.

The document, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition but said Card had reported "hearing voices and threats to shoot up" the military base. A telephone number listed for Card in public records was not in service.

Lewiston Police said in an earlier Facebook post that they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley about 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) away. A number of parents and children were at Sparetime as part of a children's bowling league.

Ten-year-old Zoey Levesque, who was there with her mother, told WMTW-TV she was grazed by a bullet.

"It's scary," she said. "I had never thought I'd grow up and get a bullet in my leg. And it's just like, why? Why do people do this?"

One bowler, who identified himself only as Brandon, said he heard about 10 shots, thinking the first was a balloon popping.