- According to media reports, several people were killed in a shooting in the US state of Maine.
- The shooter is on the run.
- The police authorities are warning residents not to leave their homes.
After the shooting in the city of Lewiston, there are currently different information about the number of victims. The television channels ABC and CNN reported that night, citing security sources, that at least 16 people had died in the city of Lewiston. CNN also reported that there were 50 to 60 injured.
A member of the Lewiston City Council, Robert McCarthy, told CNN that according to city officials, there are already 22 dead and “many, many more injured.” There was initially no official confirmation of the number of victims.
Legend:
Police forces in the city of Lewiston are searching for the fugitive.
Keystone/Robert F. Bukaty
The police authorities in the city of Lewiston and Androscoggin County said emergency services responded to gun attacks in several locations. The police published surveillance camera images of a suspected shooter. It showed a man with a gun pointed at him. The suspect has not yet been caught, it was said. Residents in the area were urged to seek safety.
The police also published a photo of a car and asked for information from the public about the man and the car. ABC and CNN reported that the attacks took place in a barbecue restaurant and a bowling alley.
Lewiston is a town with around 39,000 residents in southwest Maine. The state is located on the east coast of the USA. McCarthy said the small town’s hospitals weren’t equipped to handle a situation like this – “they’re doing what they can.” The situation is surreal. “It’s just so unreal,” McCarthy said. “You see it on the news and say to yourself that this will never happen here. And then it happens here and it just blows your mind.”
Biden speaks on the phone with the governor
In the USA, rampages and fatal shootings are sadly part of everyday life. Firearms are readily available and widely circulated in the United States. Bloody attacks with many victims regularly shake the country.
The White House said that US President Joe Biden had been informed about the incident and would continue to be kept up to date. He spoke on the phone with the Governor of Maine, Janet Mills, as well as with members of Congress from the state, and offered the full support of the federal government after the “horrible attack”. Biden was hosting a state banquet for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the U.S. government headquarters that night while the attack occurred in Maine.