Police Search for Suspect in United States Massive Shooting

United States – A huge manhunt is being carried out in Maine for the United States Army reservist suspected of murdering 18 people and injuring 13 others in a mass shooting.

Hundreds of police officers and FBI agents are searching for Robert Card, who is said to be armed and dangerous.

Schools and businesses have closed and people have taken shelter as far as 50 miles (80km) away from the scenes of Wednesday's shootings in Lewiston.

On Thursday night, police raided a property in neighbouring Bowdoin.

Part of the search played out on live TV as police executed warrants in the town, which is around a 20-minute drive from Lewiston.

Over a megaphone, police were heard yelling for Mr Card to surrender and to come out of a house "with your hands up". After a few hours, police departed the scene.

It is unclear what prompted the search, and an official said police were "simply doing their due diligence by tracking down every lead in an effort to locate and apprehend Card".

Wednesday's bloodshed marked the worst mass shooting in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts those where four or more people are killed or injured, excluding the gunman.

The mass shooting is considered to be the worst recorded in Maine – one of the US' least populous states, which has high levels of gun ownership but relatively low levels of gun violence. The number of victims nearly matches the state's total homicides for all of 2022.

The shooting prompted the area's representative in the US Congress, Marine Corps veteran Jared Golden, to publicly call for a ban on assault weapons – amove he had previously resisted on Capitol Hill.

"The time has come for me to take responsibility for this failure. Which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing," said Mr Golden, a Lewiston native.

The search for Mr Card – which is taking place over land, water and air - has now entered its third day.

The shooting began at a bowling alley in the small town of Lewiston just before 7 PM local time on Wednesday, the police colonel said. One woman and six men were killed there.

Within about 10 minutes, gunfire was reported at a nearby restaurant, Schemengees Bar & Grille, where eight more men were fatally shot.

Sixteen injured people were initially transferred to local hospitals, three of whom later died.