Lewiston shooter’s gun history emerges as locals host vigil: Latest

Thomas “Tommy” Conrad, 34, worked as a manager at the bowling alley where the first shooting took place.

His father, Timothy Conrad, confirmed that he was killed in the attack to ABC News. Mr Conrad leaves behind a nine-year-old daughter.

When confronted about the Maine gunman’s history with law enforcement and mental health problems, Maine Governor Janet Mills gave a vague answer before swiftly moving on from the question.

During a press conference on Monday, reporters asked Ms Mills about details regarding reports that law enforcement officials were aware that Robert Card had made threats against a military facility and had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital for auditory hallucinations.

Law enforcement agencies were supposedly made aware of the gunman in September when an alert was sent to all agencies about him.

However, the gunman was still able to obtain a firearm and eventually committed a mass murder in Lewiston.

But when confronted by the topic, Ms Mills told a reporter: “You’re reporting on reports.”

She assured people they would be conducting a thorough investigation of the matter.

“Those questions are important I can assure you they can be answered in due course, as police conduct all appropriate interviews and determine the facts of the case,” Ms Mills said.

Arthur Strout, a 42-year-old father-of-five, was killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille after telling his father he was going to stay for a couple more games.

Arthur Barnard told WCVB that he had been at the bar with his son that night and had left just 10 minutes before the shooting began.

“I left 10 minutes before this happened. He was supposed to leave with me and he decided he wanted to stay for a couple more games,” he said.

He added: “People loved him. They just loved him.”

Tricia Asselin, 53, worked part-time at Just-In-Time Recreation and was bowling on Wednesday night when the gunman came in and opened fire, according to CNN.

Her brother DJ Johnson told the outlet: “What I’m told is that when it all started happening, she ran up to the counter and started to call 911, and that’s when she was shot.

“That was just her. She wasn’t going to run (away). She was going to try and help.”

Mr Johnson said that his sister was “the rock” of his family. He added that his other sister was also at the bowling alley but was able to escape.

Ms Asselin’s sister Bobbi Lynn-Nichols told People magazine “We were just running, and I kept saying: ‘I want my sister out of there’. And she called 911 and put herself in his way by trying to get help. She’s a hero. My sister is a hero.”

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card left behind a mystery note after he allegedly went on a killing rampage at a bowling alley and bar in the small town of Lewiston.

Maine’s Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck confirmed in a press conference on Friday that a note had been recovered in the wake of Wednesday’s attacks which left 18 victims dead and another 13 wounded.

However, Mr Sauschuck refused to reveal the contents of the note, hinting that it may point to a possible motive for the killings.

The revelation came hours before authorities found Card’s body in a wooded area close to a recycling area where he used to work. He appeared to have died from a self-inflicted wound.

Police sources had previously told ABC News that a “suicide note” addressed to his son had been found inside Mr Card’s home during a search.

The sources said the note contained the suspect’s rantings as well as some personal information such as bank account details.

As well as the note, a law enforcement official told CNN that Mr Card’s cellphone had also been recovered.

Details of the note come as authorities admitted that they still don’t know where the accused mass killer is almost 36 hours on from the shootings.

Divers had joined the search, scouring the waterways close to the boat landing where Card’s vehicle was found abandoned late on Wednesday night.

Bryan MacFarlane was confirmed death by his sister. McFarlane was one of the participants in a deaf cornhole tournament that was happening in Schemengees bar when the second shooting incident occurred.

His sister told CNN that Mr McFarlane usually went to the bar on Wednesdays for weekly cornhole sessions and to hang out with his friends.

He was one of the first people in the state of Maine to get his commercial trucking license. He worked as a truck driver and loved riding his motorcycle and playing with his dog, his sister said.

Mr McFarlane’s stepmother, Catherine Dunn, also told CNN she was also concerned about his dog.

“He takes his dog everywhere,” she said. “I don’t know if his dog is in his truck at Schemengees’ bar, still. Or if he’s at his house, or if he’s still alive.”

Traffic surged back onto the streets of Lewiston on Friday night after authorities rescinded a shelter-in-place order implemented when an armed suspect killed 18, injured 13 more and vanished without a trace two days earlier.

Andrea Blanco and Sheila Flynn report:

Locals were fortifying themselves for more memorials and upcoming funerals; thousands of Mainers from near and far headed to a vigil Sunday night at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The church holds 2,200, but authorities had already set up a large outdoor screen on church grounds to deal with overflow before services began.

Almost everyone walking into the Basilica had some personal connection to the tragedy in the tight-knit New England community.

Greg Hird, 38, had played in the same bowling league as Tricia Asselin, the sole woman killed in the massacre, and regularly bowled with her. When he heard the news of the shooting, he called her phone eight times — but no one answered.

“She was just the greatest person ever,” said Mr Hird, weeping as he spoke about his friend. “No matter what was going on in her life, she would give everything back. Truly the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.”

Thomas Giberti, the 69-year-old former manager of the bowling alley where a Maine shooter began a shooting rampage that killed 18, astonishingly left a Lewiston-area hospital on Saturday just days after the attack – carrying seven new bullet wounds and a deep grief for friends massacred.

“He’s been through a few surgeries over the last couple days,” his nephew, Will Bourgault, told The Independent. “It’s pretty much a miracle, honestly. He was shot four times in his left leg and three times in his right leg.”

Mr Giberti, who regularly spends evenings at Just-In-Time Recreation and knows the bowling alley intimately as a former employee, had stepped away from the lanes in the moments before the shooting started – but returned to find flashes of light and quickly realised an attack was underway.

He was trying to shepherd children at the bowling alley to safety but was struck by gunfire in the back doorway, his nephew said. Instinctively swinging his legs out of the way, he managed to pull himself against a corner and sat there until a paramedic found him and made a tourniquet with Mr Giberti’s own belt to stop the bleeding.

“He’s a very humble person and doesn’t like the spotlight at all,” Mr Bourgault told The Independent. “He said, ‘I’m not a hero, I just reacted,’ … And I told him, ‘Tom, that’s what heroes do. You could have run out the back door yourself, but you didn’t. You chose to go into the bowling alley where the gunfire was coming from and get those kids.’”