At least 22 people are believed to be dead and 60 injured after a man opened fire at a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, reportedly using an AR-15. Suspect Robert Card remains at large after allegedly gunning down dozens of people, including multiple children, at Just-In-Time Recreation.
The horrific mass shooting occurred during a children's bowling league event at the facility. Although the alleged shooter's vehicle has been located, police have been unable to track down the suspect. Now, federal agents are assisting in the manhunt.
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The suspect is an Army reservist and firearms instructor.
Card, 40, is described as a "highly skilled" gunman, according to the Daily Mail. The massacre, which has left at least 22 dead and 60 injured, occurred around 7 p.m., beginning at the bowling alley before the shooter moved on to Schemengees Bar & Grille, where he continued his rampage.
Lewiston and the surrounding area are on lockdown.
Lewiston — a small city of around 38,000 people — is on lockdown along with surrounding towns Lisbon and Bowdoin, where Card is believed to live, as authorities continue their search for him, according to the Daily Mail.
"Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings," a statement from the Maine State Police reads on Facebook.
Witnesses have described a terrifying scene.
"We were inside, just a normal night of bowling. Out of nowhere he just came in and there was a loud pop," a bowler named Brandon explained, per the Daily Mail.
"I thought it was a balloon, I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw it was not a balloon, he was holding a weapon, I just booked it down the lane and I slid basically in where the pins are and climbed on the machine."
Megan Hutchinson, a mom who was inside the bowling alley with her daughter Zoey at the time of the shooting, has shared her experience as well.
"She was grazed by a bullet while we were running," Hutchinson told ABC, per WBAL TV. "We were in the back room. Another child came in whose arm had a massive — was bleeding profusely. So we barricaded in there and another parent was in the room with me. She had a phone and she called 911."
Riley Dumont, whose daughter is a member of the children's bowling league, also spoke out. "I heard a really loud bang. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but my dad looked at me," Dumont said. "My dad is a retired police officer."
Her father helped shelter a number of people. "Next thing I know, he was just taking the group that we were in and just corralling us in the corner,” she said. “He put tables over us and just made sure we were safe. He just kind of went into action at that point. It felt like it lasted forever."
Some initially thought it was all a prank.
Jason Levesque, the mayor of nearby Auburn, Maine, said some witnesses have reported initially believing the shooting was some sort of Halloween prank.
"They thought it was some sort of Halloween joke or something, the initial pops if you would, until everything started escalating quite rapidly," he told Today.
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The FBI has stepped in.
CNN reported that dozens of FBI agents, as well as agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, and the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, have all joined the hunt for Card.
"Investigators are looking at cell phone signals to try to identify his movement in the hours and days before the shootings, as well as examining social media and other electronic records to try to identify his whereabouts," CNN reported.
Maine State Police have scheduled a news conference for 10:30 a.m. Thursday to update the public on the ongoing situation.
