The suspect in a mass shooting that killed 18 people in the US state of Maine has been found dead, the state’s governor said, ending a two-day manhunt that mobilized hundreds of law enforcement agents and set jittery residents of the northeastern state on edge. Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his body was discovered at 7:45, Maine public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck said. Card is believed to be the perpetrator of a rampage on Wednesday evening that left 18 people dead and 13 others wounded in a bowling alley and a bar-restaurant in this hard-scrabble city. “I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” governor Janet Mills told a hastily called news conference. The sentiment was echoed by US Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who said on X, formerly Twitter, that President Joe Biden called her “to tell me the perpetrator of the heinous attacks in Lewiston had been found.”

Biden said the mass shooting brought “a tragic two days — not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country.” “I will continue to do everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic. The Lewiston community – and all Americans – deserve nothing less,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. Authorities on Friday identified the victims, ranging from a husband and wife in their 70s, to a 14-year- old boy killed alongside his father. The killing spree in a bowling alley and bar-restaurant marked the deadliest mass shooting in the US this year. Card’s body was found in Lisbon Falls, southeast of Lewiston near the Androscoggin River, authorities said. US media said his body was found near a recycling center that was Card’s place of employment before he lost his job there.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)