As RedState reported, on Wednesday a manhunt was mounted for Robert Card, the presumed Lewiston, Maine, shooter who murdered 10 people at the Sparetime Recreation Bowling Alley, and then entered Schemengees Bar and Grille where he murdered eight more. Multiple other victims were injured at both locations. CBS News Boston later confirmed that three of the victims were hospitalized in critical condition.

On Friday early evening, my colleague Becca Lower updated on the reports filtering in that the body of Card had been found in a nearby community. 

According to multiple other sources, it was confirmed that Robert Card was indeed dead.

The suspect connected to the shooting in was found dead on Friday.

Robert Card, the suspect wanted in connection with Wednesday's deadly mass shootings at two businesses in Maine, was found dead on Friday night.

"The suspect in Wednesday night's shootings has been located and is deceased," the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office announced.

Card was wanted for murder in connection with the deaths of 18 people who were shot at Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street and Just-In-Time Recreation on Mollison Way in the city of Lewiston. Another 13 people were injured.

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that Card died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The network also reported that Card was found at a recycling center in Lisbon where he worked.

At the second Friday press conference at 10:05 p.m. EST, Maine Governor Janet Mills, Lewiston Chief of Police David Saint Pierre, and Maine Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck gave updated information and confirmation on the death of Card from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gov. Mills said she stood here tonight to report that, "the Maine State police have located the body of Robert Card in Lisbon. He is dead." Mills further stated that she had called President Biden, Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden to update them on this new status. Mills thanked the local, county, and state law enforcement members from all over and people from other states who, 

searched tirelessly to arrive at this moment. On behalf of all Maine people, I want to express my profound gratitude for their unwavering bravery and determination and fortitude. And for the leadership of Lewistown Police Chief David St. Pierre. Like many people I am breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone.

Several communities in the Lewiston area were given shelter-in-place warnings. Schools canceled classes, and authorities urged residents to remain indoors. Lewiston Mayor Carl L. Sheline was interviewed by CBS Boston and expressed his incredulity over the murders.

"For me it was incomprehensible that this can happen in Lewiston, Maine," Mayor Carl Sheline told CBS News Boston.

"Our city is facing this incredible loss and I am completely broken for our city, and my heart really goes out to the victims and their families right now," Sheline said.

Gov. Mills concluded her remarks by saying, "Tonight, the city of Lewiston and the state of Maine begin to move forward on what will be a long, and difficult road to healing; but we will heal together."

Chief David Saint Pierre asked that the press bear with him, as he did not have much time to prepare formal remarks. Chief St. Pierre spoke to the need to care for the grieving families and the coordination required for all the agencies involved. 

I just don't want to forget the families that are grieving and who continue to grieve. I don't want to forget the law enforcement officials who have worked tirelessly throughout this whole event to come to a good conclusion. Our men and women of the Lewiston Police Department, of all our surrounding agencies, we have with us Chief McGee here from Lisbon, where Mr. Card was found. This is vitally important to all of us that this conclusion came to light tonight. We're gonna grieve for the families that lost loved ones here, we're gonna continue to work, we're gonna persevere and we become better people for it in terms of working together as teams. We've learned a lot from some mistakes and we've won a lot of accomplishments this evening. Again, I wasn't really prepared for this on a Friday night at 10:30, but I'm very happy to be here and very happy to say the threat is over. 

Commissioner Sauschuck answered what questions he could and explained there would be a more detailed briefing on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. 

We wanted to make sure this information got out as fast as possible and as responsible as possible. What I mean by that is that the time between the notification of the press release and now wasn't a lot of details there. It wasn't a lot of details there because we wanted to talk to the victim's families. We wanted to say, "This is coming." That it's important that they heard this information as close to first as anybody else. And you know who else we called was the family of the suspect. They lost a loved one in this scenario, and there were many in this family who were cooperative with us throughout. So they deserved that phone call. So we had that conversation tonight before joining you here. We also got a chance to spend some time with the brothers and sisters of law enforcement and our public safety partners that have been so incredibly helpful over the last few days, to say the least.  

Sauschuck answered a few more press questions, but further reinforced that more details would be forthcoming at the Saturday press conference.

As with any mass shooting, the usual choruses of gun control and assault weapon bans begin before an investigation is even concluded and findings rendered. Firearms and crime expert John R. Lott weighed in on this.

The Just-in-Time Bowling Alley in Lewiston, Maine, where Robert Card murdered 7 people on Wednesday, was a Gun-free Zone; the Schemengees Bar & Grille was likely also a Gun-free Zone.https://t.co/bv9RlVzBDI#2a #gun #guns #GunFreeZone #GunFreeZones #GunControlNow #guncontrol pic.twitter.com/XhA6lcOHLP

— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) October 27, 2023

The Second Amendment Foundation's Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb outlined the "significant warning signs" that should have prevented Robert Card from being able to obtain a firearm in the first place. Gottlieb made the same points that Lott laid out: both locations were easy targets because of the restrictions on carrying firearms on the premises.

A sign at the door of the bowling alley says, “We kindly ask that you refrain from bringing firearms in this building and we would appreciate it if you left them in your vehicle. Please keep our atmosphere family friendly.” That notice did not stop the suspect from entering and opening fire.

“There is some speculation the Just-in-Time bowling alley and Schemengees Bar & Grille were targeted by the suspect,” Gottlieb said, “and we are waiting for confirmation from investigators. What is a certainty, however, is that the suspect has a recent history of mental health problems including spending two weeks in a mental health facility recently, after hearing voices and threatening to shoot up a military facility near the town of Saco. Under Maine’s ‘yellow flag’ law, there is a process for police to trigger which allows them to confiscate firearms from people at risk. There was no attempt to confiscate his firearms despite the warning signs.”

Gottlieb called out Maine Rep. Jared Golden and President Joe Biden for their knee-jerk reaction of condemning law-abiding gun owners for the violence and demanding immediate gun control measures.

“As expected,” Gottlieb said, “the gun prohibition crowd—including President Joe Biden—immediately started banging the drum for more restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who have harmed nobody. In fact, reports are surfacing that Maine residents have either armed themselves or have told the media they want to be armed.

“The suspect’s reported condition this past summer should have made him a prohibited person from gun possession,” Gottlieb stated. “The knee-jerk demands from anti-gunners, from Joe Biden on down, to penalize honest citizens amounts to a disgusting exploitation of a horrible tragedy for which one person alone is responsible. Disarming gun owners has never helped prevent a crime in the past, and it certainly won’t prevent tragedies in the future.”

RedState will continue to follow this investigation as more details unfold.