Robert Card, the suspect in the Maine mass shooting, has been found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in the woods, authorities have confirmed.
The discovery of Card’s body ends a 48-hour manhunt involving over 300 members of law enforcement.
Androscoggin sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook:
“The suspect in Wednesday night’s shootings has been located and is deceased.”
40-year-old Card was found at 7:45 pm near Lisbon Falls, where his car was abandoned shortly after Wednesday’s massacre.
His body was reportedly located near a recycling plant from where he was recently fired.
It was unclear how long he had been dead.
Mike Sauschuck, the commander of Maine’s Department of Public Safety, would not say whether he had died as police closed in or been dead for days.
“There continues to be a lot of work that needs to be done here at the scene, and a lot to follow up on,” said Sauschuck.
Sauschuck confirmed that he is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He added that a hunting ban in the area has now been lifted.
Saturday marks the start of the deer hunting season and is a key date in Maine’s calendar.
Officials held a press conference releasing limited details regarding Card’s death.
However, officials stated that there would be another detailed press briefing on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
“And with this search concluded, I know that law enforcement continues to fully investigate all the facts,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills stated.
“So we can bring what closure we can to the victims and their families … Robert Card is dead.”
Authorities noted that families of the victims as well as the suspect were notified prior to releasing the information to the public.
#BREAKING: Maine Senator Angus King confirms to CBS13 that the body of murder suspect Robert Card has been found. pic.twitter.com/tAi8NQywT4
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) October 28, 2023
“So the reality is that we found that body at 7:45 and it’s 10:25 now so there continues to be a lot of work that needs to be done here at the scene with the medical examiner’s office so that there’s much more follow-up to what happened,” authorities stated.
Authorities declined questions regarding specific details of the case such as possible accomplices and how the body was found.
“But as we’ve talked about before these next steps are going to give us an opportunity to do things as fast as we can in the sense that we want to provide closure and information, but also slow things down a little bit,” authorities continued.
“Because we need to look at video evidence, we need to look at various pieces of technology that are in play here and hopes that gives us some additional information around some of the things you’re going to react to.”
Card was the subject of an ongoing manhunt as authorities sought him after the shooting.
Shelter-in-place orders immediately took effect in Androscoggin County as well as parts of Sagadahoc County, NBC 10 reported.
Maine Sen. Angus King reportedly confirmed early reports to CBS 13 News.
NBC10 Boston previously reported there was “no longer a threat.”
The massacre occurred Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine, leaving 18 people dead and 13 injured.
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