An assailant armed with an automatic rifle killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 50 in Lewiston, in the US state of Maine, NBC Television reported early this morning, citing police sources.
A man fired shots at multiple locations, including a bowling alley and a restaurant, on Wednesday night, and it is not believed to be a terrorist attack at this time.
Hundreds of police officers are searching Lewiston and surrounding areas in the state of Maine in the northeastern United States.
Lewiston police said they are looking for 40-year-old Robert Card, who is considered "armed and dangerous." Card worked as a firearms instructor and trained at the US Army Reserve Center in Maine. During the summer, he spent two weeks in a mental health clinic, according to a state police bulletin that was seen by the Associated Press. The media also reports that he recently lost his job. writes Voice of America
Photo: AP Photo/Steven SennePhoto: AP Photo/Steven Senne
Lewiston has a population of about 37.000 and is the second largest city in Maine. A total of 29 murders were committed in Maine last year, and 2020 in 20.
The number of shootings in the US in which four or more people were killed has increased sharply since the outbreak of the covid pandemic in 2020 - there were 647 in 2022, and according to projections.
Mass murders in the USA
Almost 190 people have died in 36 mass murders in the United States this year alone, according to AP.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation defines a mass murder as an incident in which four or more people, not including the killer, lost their lives within a 24-hour period. In 2019 alone, there were more mass murders with more victims in the US than this year. Since 2006, more than 560 mass murders have been recorded in the USA, in which about 2.900 people died, while more than 2.000 were wounded.
The deadliest shooting in the US to date is the massacre of 58 people at a music festival in Las Vegas, when a gunman shot them from a hotel window in 2017.
JH/FoNet/VOA
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