Maine shooting: Suspect found dead after manhunt — reports

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Maine shooting: Suspect found dead after manhunt — reports
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CRIMEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Maine shooting: Suspect found dead after manhunt — reports
11 minutes ago11 minutes ago
The gunman who opened fire on a bar and a bowling alley in a small town in the northeastern state of Maine has been found dead, officials told US media outlets.

https://p.dw.com/p/4Y8TX
Authorities set up makeshift work stations to work with footage from cameras used to search waterways in efforts to track down suspect who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine
Maine officials had earlier urged citizens to stay home as the Lewiston shooting suspect is still on the looseImage: JOE RAEDLE/AFP/Getty Images
The gunman who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, has been found dead, after nearly two days of search operations, according to US media reports.

Earlier in the day, officials in the northeastern US state lifted a shelter-in-place order, as they still searched for the suspect.

State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck named all 18 victims of the mass shooting at a news conference earlier in the day. All of the victims’ families had been notified.

Sauschuck read the names aloud at the conference. Photos of those slain were posted on a board behind him and the reading was followed by a moment of silence.

A spokesperson for the state medical examiner’s office said the victims ranged in age from 14 to 76.

At least 18 killed in latest US mass shooting

01:33
Manhunt was underway nearly two days after shooting rampage
The shooter had remained at large after nearly two days, as authorities, including dozens of FBI agents, scoured the woods and waterways in central and southern Maine.

Law enforcement officials gave no indication that they had any leads on the gunman, named Robert C.

Authorities also scrutinized a possible suicide note found at the shooter’s home that was addressed to his son, officials said. The note didn’t provide any specific motive for the shooting, they added.

Neighbors told investigators that the shooter’s family lived in the area, in a town called Bowdoin, for generations and various members of the family own hundreds of acres in the area.

36th mass shooting this year
The shooting marked the country’s 36th mass killing this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press news agency along with others.

So far this year, the US has witnessed the second-highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. Only 2019 had more mass killings, according to the database.

US President Joe Biden said the nation was once again “in mourning after yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting.”

He reiterated calls for a renewed assault weapons ban and stricter rules on gun sales measures that need to pass Congress.

Editor’s note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing the full names of alleged criminals.

rm, rmt/wd (AP, Reuters)