A law enforcement official embraces with a person outside Schemengees Bar where a mass shooting occurred yesterday in Lewiston, Maine on October 26, 2023. LEWISTON, Maine — Police missed two clear opportunities to end a dragnet that locked down and terrified Maine’s second-largest city after a gunman killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar following a recent spiral into paranoia.
Authorities recovered a multitude of weapons during their search for Card and believe he had legally purchased his guns, including those recovered in his car and near his body, said Jim Ferguson, the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He declined to provide specific details about the guns, including their make and model, and wouldn’t say exactly how many were found.
Under Maine’s yellow flag law, law enforcement can detain someone they suspect is mentally ill and poses a threat to themselves or others. The law differs from red flag laws in that it requires police first to get a medical practitioner to evaluate the person and find them to be a threat before police can petition a judge to order the seizure of the person’s firearms.
Street life returned to Lewiston on Saturday after a dayslong lockdown in the city of 37,000. Joggers took advantage of the warm weather. People walked dogs through downtown, picked up coffee and visited other shops that had been closed since the shooting.