Robert Card, who officials believe to be responsible for the mass shooting in the northern U.S. state of Maine, has been found dead, state officials said Friday.

Michael Sauschuk, the Maine commissioner of public safety, told a news conference that Card died from an “apparent, self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Governor Janet Mills said Card’s body was found in Lisbon Falls, Maine.

Authorities had been searching for Card in connection with a mass shooting Wednesday at two locations — a bowling alley and a bar and grill — in Lewiston, Maine. He is suspected of having killed 18 people and wounded 13.

“Robert Card is not a threat to anyone,” Mills said Friday. “Now is a time to heal.”

Card’s body was found at 7:45 p.m. near the Androscoggin River at a recycling facility, officials said.

Authorities lifted their shelter in place order for the areas near the shootings Friday evening.

Card, 40, a U.S. Army reservist, underwent a mental health evaluation in mid-July after he began acting erratically during training, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The names and pictures of the 16 males and 2 females who died were released as State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck asked for a moment of silence at the news conference. Their ages ranged from 14 to 76.

The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022. The governor said Friday that many Maine residents will know someone who died.

A motive for the shootings has not been determined.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.

Source: VOA

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