Maine has lifted the shelter-in-place order enacted amid the manhunt for fugitive gunman Robert Card, but with Card still on the loose residents were warned to ‘remain vigilant’.
Maine state police on Friday afternoon said that the search for Card, an Army reservist and avid hunter, was continuing, with a focus on Friday on an area of the Androscoggin River.
Card is accused of shooting dead 18 people on Wednesday night at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, in a possible attempt to kill an ex. All 18 were named by police on Friday night.
The shelter-in-place order which was in place for Lewiston; Bowdoin, where Card, his parents and brother live; and Lisbon, where his car was abandoned, has been lifted.
But hunting in the area remains prohibited.
The 40-year-old is a trained firearms instructor and Army Reservist stationed out of the city of Saco
‘Businesses may choose to open or remain closed,’ said Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the state’s Department of Public Safety, adding that locals should ‘remain vigilant’.
‘Are we doing more harm than good in keeping people away from their doctors, their clinics, their schools? But we have to ask the people we serve what they want.
‘We don’t come to those decisions to go into the order, or come out of it, lightly. But we do appreciate all the input, in so far as, what does it mean, how does it impact me.’
Police said around 500 tips have been sent in so far, but Card’s whereabouts are unknown.
His car was found abandoned in the town of Lisbon on Wednesday evening, less than two hours after he began his rampage.
Asked whether he had been seen since he left the scene of the last shooting at 8pm on Wednesday, a spokesman for Maine state police said: ‘We have not seen him. Law enforcement has not seen him in the last two days.’
Divers were searching the Androscoggin River near Lisbon boat dock, where Card kept a boat.
Card, described as 5’11 and 230lbs, was last seen wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt and brown cargo pants.
Police on Thursday evening searched homes belonging to Card’s parents and brother, and at one point used a bullhorn to shout: ‘Come out with your hands up, you are under arrest.’
But on Friday they confirmed Card was not there.