WorthyNews:Two Maine Mass Shootings Kill 22 (Update)

[WorthyNewsBot]

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

LEWISTON, USA (Worthy News) – At least 22 people are dead and another 50 to 60 people injured in two mass shootings in the U.S. state of Maine, multiple law enforcement sources said Wednesday.

A manhunt was underway for a suspect named as Robert Card, 40, who allegedly opened fire at numerous locations in Lewiston, the state’s second-largest city about 36 miles (58 kilometers) north of Portland.

Police said that he may be driving a white Subaru Outback in Lewiston. Footage shared by police purportedly showed the gunman entering a business.

The Lewiston Police Department said locations where the shootings occurred included Schemengees Bar and Grille, Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley, and a Walmart distribution site in the city.

His motives were not immediately clear, but Western countries have been on increased alert for possible terror attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Maine State Police asked residents to shelter in place as the situation was ongoing.

Footage has been shared by police purportedly showing the gunman entering a business.

SCHOOLS CLOSED

His motives were not immediately clear, but Western countries have been on increased alert for possible terror attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

With the shootings rapidly developing, Lewiston public schools were to be closed Thursday, said Jake Langlais, the district’s superintendent.

“Stay close to your loved ones. Embrace them. Our prayers go out to those who lost someone tonight,” he said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

It was one of the worst shootings on record in Lewiston, a city of about 38,000.

U.S. President Joe Biden was notified about the mass shooting, underscoring broader concerns about gun violence nationwide.

The believed death toll nearly matches the annual number of homicides in the state of Maine — with 29 homicides being reported in 2022, according to official estimates.

View the full article

[FJK]

From what I read, it's the usual ignoring of serious red flags that should have warned about him.

Ex Marine officer with domestic violence arrests, mental problems resulting in being committed to a mental institution for two weeks (one article said committed, another said admitted), threatening to attack a military installation, etc.

And the problem will probably be blamed on guns, not the things that drive people into mental illness and violent antisocial actions so there will be no move toward a viable solution and things like this will continue to get worse.

(FWIW, Maine has a "red flag" law.)

[OneLight]

Now for some reality ... Governer Mills just had a news brief stating that 18 people were killed and 13 injured.

[chirpy]

The meds he was put on for his pyco problems may have also been a factor in his behavior..... seems most shooters have been on meds when they did their dirty deeds

[FJK]

40 minutes ago, chirpy said:

The meds he was put on for his pyco problems may have also been a factor in his behavior..... seems most shooters have been on meds when they did their dirty deeds

We're not supposed to talk about that, and it generally is not publicly disclosed information (neither is their past use of those meds, especially ones that were forced on them in school while very young which we also should not talk about).

[farouk]

5 hours ago, FJK said:

(FWIW, Maine has a "red flag" law.)

@FJK Sad events. So what does a "red flag" law mean? (I'm not in the US.)

[teddyv]

6 hours ago, FJK said:

And the problem will probably be blamed on guns, not the things that drive people into mental illness and violent antisocial actions so there will be no move toward a viable solution and things like this will continue to get worse.

It's a lot harder to kill a lot of people without a rifle like that (seems to be the most popular model in these events). Dismissing the accessibility of weapons as having little to no impact on these events is short-sighted.

[FJK]

1 hour ago, teddyv said:

It's a lot harder to kill a lot of people without a rifle like that (seems to be the most popular model in these events). Dismissing the accessibility of weapons as having little to no impact on these events is short-sighted.

We had the same accessibility to the same weapons 50 years ago with that access being far easier, so why didn't we have the same problems then as now?  The problem is not the weapons and will not go away with more restrictions and regulations put on them since the cause of problem itself is not being addressed by any laws anywhere, mostly not even talked about.

But, I doubt a solution is what is really being -or wanted- intended by those in authority.

[FJK]

2 hours ago, farouk said:

@FJK Sad events. So what does a "red flag" law mean? (I'm not in the US.)

A red flag law gives the authorities the right to immediately seize someone's weapons and forbid ownership of them when a (presumably valid) reason exists, mental health issues requiring hospitalization and treatment by psychiatric drugs as well as domestic violence arrests, and threats to attack a military installation all qualify for a red flag law seizure and all three of them combined should absolutely qualify for emergency action on it, these weren't incidents that would normally go unnoticed by the people in authority involved with them and were obviously just ignored (as always seems to be the case in these berserker psycho killings).

[Rick-Parker]

5 minutes ago, FJK said:

A red flag law gives the authorities the right to immediately seize someone's weapons and forbid ownership of them when a (presumably valid) reason exists, mental health issues requiring hospitalization and treatment by psychiatric drugs as well as domestic violence arrests, and threats to attack a military installation all qualify for a red flag law seizure and all three of them combined should absolutely qualify for emergency action on it, these weren't incidents that would normally go unnoticed by the people in authority involved with them and were obviously just ignored (as always seems to be the case in these berserker psycho killings).

The authorities have to first be aware of the people to whom the red flag law applies. Most of the time they are not informed by mental health providers or the courts.