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A gunman armed with an AR 15-style rifle in Lewiston, Maine has shot dead at least 22 people and injured up to 60 more across three separate locations, sparking a massive manhunt across the state.
Police sources told Fox News that 22 were dead. Sources told CNN that 50-60 were injured. The toll is not confirmed, but Maine’s hospitals said they were declaring a mass casualty event.
The locations were Sparetime bowling alley; Schemengee’s bar and grill; and a Walmart distribution center.
A photo issued by sheriffs showed a white man with an AR-15-style rifle and a laser optic entering the Sparetime recreation center, wearing black combat trousers and a brown top. His face is clearly visible. The neighboring city of Auburn has also been placed on lockdown.
Police in Lewiston have also issued a photo of the white station wagon they are seeking, saying it could have a black-painted bumper.
‘There is an active shooter situation in the city of Lewiston,’ said Maine state police.
‘Law enforcement is asking people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked.’
The local hospital said at 9pm they could not confirm casualties.
‘Central Maine Healthcare is coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients,’ the hospital said.
The gunman, wearing a brown hoodie, is seen in Lewiston on Wednesday night
Police in Lewiston are hunting for this man, pictured at the Sparetime recreation center. The first call came in for Sparetime at 7:15pm
Sheriffs issued this picture of the man they are hunting. He is seen entering Sparetime, a bowling alley in Lewiston
Police audio said the two locations were Schemengee’s bar and grill, and Sparetime recreation center. The two sites are around four miles apart, in Maine’s second-largest city.
Police were then called to a third location, a Walmart distribution center, said Derrick St. Laurent, a Lewiston spokesman.
St. Laurent told the Sun Journal that the first call, to Sparetime, came at around 7:16pm.
Police were then called to Schemengee’s, and after that, at about 8:15pm, the Walmart site.
Footage shared on social media showed police racing to the scene in the town of 36,000 people, 35 miles north of Portland and 35 miles south of the capital, Augusta.
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The city of Auburn, just across the Androscoggin River, has also warned residents to remain indoors.
‘**ALERT: There is an active shooter incident in progress in the City of Lewiston,’ they wrote on X.
‘ALL Auburn & Lewiston residents are strongly urged to shelter in place, lock all doors & report suspicious individuals and activities to 9-1-1.
‘Most businesses in the area have closed/are closing.**’
People are seen running from the scene of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine
Crowds scattered after shots rung out on Wednesday evening
Police in Lewiston, Maine are seen rushing to reports of two shootings – one at a bar, one at a bowling alley
Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, said in a statement she was aware of the shootings and had been briefed.
‘I urge all people in the area to follow the direction of State and local enforcement,’ Mills said in the statement.
‘I will to continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with public safety officials.’
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, tweeted his condolences, and expressed his anger at the shooting.
‘Devastating news out of Maine. A mass shooting. Multiple locations. At least 16 dead, 50 injured, and thousands of lives forever changed,’ he wrote on X.
‘We don’t have to live like this, and we definitely don’t have to die like this.’
On Monday, the superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools, Jake Langlais, wrote to parents to inform them that he had been made aware of threats to the school – but they had determined the person making the threats was 10 years old, and lived in the midwest.
‘The individual responsible for the message that was threatening to LHS last night has been identified,’ wrote Langlais, in a letter obtained by News Center Maine.
‘Law enforcement has made contact and the situation has been taken care of.’
He said that school would operate as normal on Monday.
