Maine Mass Shooting Update as Fears Robert Card May Try to Cross Border

The manhunt for suspected Maine mass shooter Robert Card is still underway, with hundreds of officers still searching for the "armed and dangerous" individual and border enforcement agencies now on alert.

Card is wanted on suspicion of killing 18 victims and wounding 13 others in mass shootings across two locations on Wednesday night. The suspect opened fire on a bowling alley and a separate restaurant in Lewiston just before 7 p.m.

Police in Canada's New Brunswick province, which borders Maine, have said they are monitoring the situation as police continue their search. Lewiston is around three and a half hours from the Canadian border.

Maine shares 18 official entry points with New Brunswick and a further six with Quebec. Canada Border Services Agency senior spokesperson Jacqueline Roby, according to Global News Canada, said the agency had issued an "Armed & Dangerous – Firearms lookout," alerting border officers about the high-risk situation.

All points between Canada and the United States remained open as of Thursday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police also confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that it is aware of the situation and is "continuing to monitor it in collaboration with our law enforcement partners."

In the town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, which has a border crossing with the U.S., residents received an alert on Thursday afternoon to remind them to be vigilant. St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern said he was aware of American officers "checking people leaving the country" and Canadian police "doing the same, as we speak."

"We got that alert app. We're going to put it out to make sure everyone knows: keep your eyes and ears open for any strange activity," he told Global News Canada.

Officials have released photographs of a bearded man in a brown hoodie and jeans at one of the crime scenes, which is believed at this stage to be Card, holding what appears to be a semi-automatic rifle.

Hundreds of officers are still searching for the suspect in Maine, with the FBI having conducted a raid on the last known address associated with Card on Thursday. Teams cleared the property, and investigators came in to search for evidence such as weapons, computers and documents.

Authorities also searched the vehicle believed to have been used by Card, a white 4x4. Found abandoned in the nearby town of Lisbon, investigators recovered a weapon from the vehicle, but it has not been confirmed if it was used during Wednesday's shooting.

Experts believe law enforcement could have their work cut out for them in the search for Card.

"This is a person who has military training," CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Jonathan Wackrow said. "They have an elevated level of firearms proficiency, but they also have the knowledge of military tactics, most notably evasion and the strategy on how to go undetected. All of that going on is challenging to law enforcement."

Lewiston is still under a shelter-in-place order along with nearby towns Bowdoin and Lisbon, with local schools remaining closed on Friday as well. Police have warned that Card should not be approached by members of the public and is likely to be armed and dangerous.

Newsweek reached out to the Lewiston Police Department via email for comment.

The identities of all of the victims of Wednesday evening's shooting have not yet been released. But two confirmed deaths among them are Bill Young and his 14-year-old son, Aaron, who were at the bowling alley when they were killed.

Seven people died Wednesday night at the Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley, while eight others were fatally shot at nearby Schemengees Bar & Grille restaurant. Another three died later in hospital, police said.