Maine’s governor says at least 18 people were killed and 13 were injured in shootings in Maine, and state police have issued a murder warrant for the suspect, who is still at large. Gov. Janet Mills made the remarks at a press conference Thursday.
A man shot and killed the victims at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston and then fled into the night, sparking a massive search by hundreds of officers while frightened residents stayed locked in their homes Thursday under a shelter-in-place advisory.
Mills said the shooting suspect, Robert Card, is considered armed and dangerous.
“This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security,” she said.
A police bulletin identified Card, 40, as a person of interest in the attack in Lewiston that sent panicked bowlers scrambling behind pins, into corners and a back room when shots rang out around 7 p.m. Wednesday. Card was described as a firearms instructor believed to be in the U.S. Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.
Republican Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House, but the ally of Donald Trump inherits many of the same political problems that have tormented past GOP leaders, tested their grasp of the gavel and eventually chased them out of office.
When the House convenes Thursday it will be a bustle of activity, making up for lost time during the weeks of chaos since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. But the goodwill toward Johnson blurs the political fault lines challenging the Louisianan’s ability to lead the GOP majority as it faces daunting issues ahead.
By Nov. 17, the Congress must fund the government again or risk a federal shutdown. President Joe Biden wants an additional $105 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine. And Republicans are eager to resume their impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son’s business dealings.
“This has been a grueling process,” Johnson said Wednesday after he took the gavel. “The challenge before us is great but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down.”
Israeli troops and tanks briefly raided northern Gaza overnight into Thursday, the military said, striking several militant targets in order to “prepare the battlefield” before a widely expected ground invasion after more than two weeks of devastating airstrikes.
The raid came after the U.N. warned that’s it’s on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts. Gaza has been under a brutal siege — running out of food, water and medicine — since Hamas’ bloody rampage across southern Israel earlier this month ignited the war.
The rising death toll in Gaza is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Thursday more than 7,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, a figure that could not be independently verified. Even greater loss of life could come if Israel launches a ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis leveled more than eight homes belonging to an extended family, killing at least 15 people. Ambulances raced to the scene as dust from the collapsing buildings hung in the air.
Dom Tritchler can be reached at trit2114@stthomas.edu.