US
Maine shooting: Police investigating more than 500 tips and leads as specialist divers brought in to hunt suspect
Officers are chasing up more than 500 tips and leads they have received as they hunt for the suspected gunman who killed 18 people in a mass shooting in the US state of Maine.
Maine commissioner of public safety, Michael Sauschuck, said the tips and leads “vary greatly” and officers were working round the clock through them.
He added specialist divers, sonar equipment and air resources would also be deployed to search part of the River Androscoggin, near to where the suspected gunman’s car was discovered.
Maine shooting latest: Divers searching river near where suspect’s car found
The divers will be looking for evidence and “checking for potential bodies”, Mr Sauschuck said. Officers will also carry out searches along the river bank.
“We have a lot of other irons in the fire, so I’m not saying that we know the suspect is in the water,” he added.
The suspect, Robert Card, 40, is believed to have killed seven people at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, and a further eight people at Schemengees Bar and Grille.
Pic: Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office/AP
Three more people died after being taken to local hospitals.
Wednesday night’s attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the US this year.
Among the dead are a father and son, a volunteer bowling coach and a manager at the bar, which the suspect is reported to have visited before.
Clockwise – Tricia Asselin, Joseph Walker, Jason Walker with Michael Deslauriers and Bob Violette
Read more:
Father-of-four and 14-year-old boy among victims
‘Armed and dangerous’ suspect still on run
Armed police and a helicopter surrounded a home in Bowdoin, near Lewiston, for more than two hours last night and executed a search warrant before leaving.
Officials have put the city of Lewiston, home to around 38,000 people, in lockdown and urged residents there and in the nearby towns of Auburn, Bowdoin, and Lisbon, to “shelter in place”.
A map showing the city of Lewiston in the US State of Maine
Mr Sauschuck said the order would remain in place for the time being.
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