Maine shooting LIVE: First victims named as Robert Card manhunt continues

After calling it a “horrific tragedy”, here’s what he said to the media on Thursday morning:

“This is a dark time in America, we have a lot of problems and we’re really, really hopeful and prayerful. Prayer is appropriate in a time like this, that the evil can end and this senseless violence can stop. And so that’s that’s the statement this morning on behalf of the entire House of Representatives. Everyone wants this to end and I’ll leave it there.”

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card’s sister-in-law has added some colour to the reports of the 40-year-old’s current state of mind.

After US Army reservist Mr Card was accused of killing 18 people on Wednesday night — and while a manhunt for the Bowdoin resident remains underway — Karen Card spoke out about her brother-in-law toThe Daily Beast.

Ms Card, who is married to the suspect’s brother, said that she has known the suspect her “whole life”.

“He is quiet but the most loving, hardworking, and kind person that I know,” she said on Thursday.

“But in the past year, he had an acute episode of mental health, and it’s been a struggle.”

Ms Card shed some light on previously reported details about his mental health struggles.

Kelly Rissman has the details.

Parts of Maine, like Lewiston and Bowdoin, are under shelter-in-place advisories, as the community is rattled by the tragedy — and waits for Card to be caught. Police said he should be considered “armed and dangerous”.

He is believed to be carrying a high-powered assault-style rifle and possibly extra ammunition. Investigators are still on the hunt for Card, as of Thursday afternoon.

Kelly Rissman looks at how the tragedy unfolded.

The father of a bar manager in Lewiston identified his son as one of the 18 victims who died in Wednesday’s shooting in Maine.

Leroy Walker, a city council member in Auburn, Maine, told NBC News that state police had confirmed his son Joseph Walker had been killed when a gunman opened fire at two locations in Lewiston, including Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, where he was the bar manager.

Many people in the community have been waiting on edge to hear whether or not their loved ones have been identified as victims in the shooting.

It took over 14 hours for Mr Walker to be notified about his son, and he said his family was “suffering and dying in a nightmare we don’t understand.”

“None of us slept, we were up all night,” he said. “We didn’t know where to go, who to run to. They didn’t notify any of us.”

Andrea Cavallier reports.

Yesterday, Lewiston, Maine became yet another community torn apart by senseless gun violence. This time a bowling alley and a restaurant have been turned into scenes of unimaginable carnage.

Doug and I join the President and Dr. Biden in mourning those who were killed, praying for the many who were injured, and grieving for so many more whose lives are forever changed.

The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to provide full support to local authorities in Maine. I join President Biden in urging area residents to follow the warnings and guidance of local officials as the investigation proceeds.

Let us also continue to speak truth about the moment we are in. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in our nation. It does not have to be this way.

It is a false choice to suggest we must choose between either upholding the Second Amendment or passing reasonable gun safety laws to save lives. Congress can and must make background checks universal. Pass red flag laws. Ban high-capacity magazines. And renew the assault weapons ban.

In the meantime, President Biden and I are not waiting around. Through the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, we will continue to work to save lives.

We do not have a moment to spare, nor a life to spare.

Here’s where the incidents unfolded on Wednesday night:

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition grieves with the families and friends who lost loved ones in the mass shooting last night. We watched in horror as the tragedy in Lewiston, Maine happened before our eyes – the result of our weak gun laws. We call on our elected officials tonight to stop bowing to the gun lobby and look squarely at the face of what has happened in Maine’s second largest city. At a minimum, the Maine Gun Safety Coalition believes an assault weapons ban is necessary to try to prevent more such tragedies in our state.

At today’s White House press conference, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave the following statement ahead of questions from the press corps.

I wanted to start with a word about the horrific news out of Lewiston, Maine last night, where we saw another tragic shooting that has taken at least 18 lives, injured many others and left countless people in grief, shock and trauma.

As the President said in a statement earlier today, he and the First Lady are praying for the victims and their families for those still fighting for their lives. And for the families, survivors and community members reeling from this latest act of gun violence. And importantly, we continue to urge all residents to heed the warnings and guidance of local officials and federal law enforcement are on the ground to assist with the response.

During the state dinner last night, the President was informed and stepped out to receive an initial briefing of the shooting. Later he stepped out to speak with Maine governor Janet Mills as well as senators Collins and King and Congressman Jared Golden. He pledged full federal support in the wake of this horrific tragedy. This morning the President received another briefing on the shooting from senior advisors and he ordered that the US flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds out of respect for all the victims as well. So I want to echo the President’s sentiments on this strategy, tragedy and the epidemic of gun violence in general. This is not normal. We cannot accept this. There have been literally hundreds of mass shootings in the last year alone, leaving empty seats at dinner tables across the country and leaving those who survive these heinous acts, both physically and mentally. scarred.

And while we have made progress since the President signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, much more, much more must be done.

And the president has been clear that executive action alone is just not enough.

As the vice president —who oversees the newly established office of gun violence and prevention — stated during today’s state lunch, and I know many of you watched very closely as well, and she said it doesn’t have to be this way.

As our friends in Australia have demonstrated. Again, it does not have to be this way. It’s within Congress’s power to pass legislation that will make our streets safer that will make our community safer that will make our schools safer.

The house has a new speaker who he said he’s ready to get to work and to find common ground. Now is the time, now is the time to find common ground. Let’s work together to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. let’s work together to enact universal background checks, require safe storage of guns, and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous individuals who have no business being armed with a weapon of war.

The president will continue to do everything in his power to protect the American people, to protect our communities to protect our children, and we urge, we urge congressional Republicans to come to the table to come to the table. If there truly is common ground, at this time.