Maine mass shootings

[Velar Fricative]

www.cnn.com/us/live-news/lewiston-maine-shootings-active-shooter-10-25-23/index.html

Not sure if any of our Maine posters live in Lewiston, but this is terrifying and happening as we speak. There’s a screenshot of a shooter but given the multiple locations, it’s possible there is more than one shooter.

[pixy0stix]

Jesus. I hope they stop him soon.

[penguingrrl]

OMG that’s horrible.

[plutosmoon]

This is horrifying. Lewiston is my coworker's hometown, his family is all there as are a lot of his friends. I am worried sick for him and his family, I haven't heard any updates from him yet. I hope all our Maine posters are safe and they catch this guy soon.

[shopgirl07]

The level of dead and injured is catastrophic. I’m quite familiar with Maine and that area, I don’t know that there are enough doctors to treat all of the wounded. It’s just devastating.

[UMaineTeach]

I’m not near Lewiston and just saw this when I checked FB before bed.

Now watching the live news stream and trying to avoid random FB comments. The news crew is so rattled it’s hard to watch. They have had to swap out anchors and on scene reporters to breathe and compose. Large numbers of people outside hospitals.

At least 22 people died. And no one in custody.

The school still had to go on lockdown, because there were parent conferences tonight.

It’s so scary and exactly why I think about a shooter at least 5 times a day at work.

[msmerymac]

Despite being the second largest city in Maine, Lewiston is still only 30,000 or so? It’s basically like a college town. I can’t imagine there will be many people who are unaffected.

[livinitup]

His name is being reported to be Robert Card.

[jaylea]

I’m 40 or so mins away. I am
Just in disbelief and hoping they catch this fucker soon.

[Gato]

I was just thinking that, msmerymac . 20 people in Lewiston is a lot.

I am worried about the people I know there and so sad for my state.

[dancingirl21]

This is horrific. May they find him soon.

[msmerymac]

There’s absolutely no justification or explanation for something this horrific, and they in no way are reporting that it’s tied to any act of terrorism (by the official, ideological definition) yet, but I will say Lewiston is one of the more diverse parts of Maine, with several refugee communities, so I’m having flashbacks to the Buffalo Tops Market shooter already.

I can’t imagine they’ll take him alive at this point. I just hope he doesn’t hurt anyone else first.

[mysteriouswife]

This may need a preemptive @ due to the reports I’m seeing. 💔

[underwaterrhymes]

Apparently he is firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility and recently spent time at a mental health facility.

I keep typing and erasing. I don’t know what to say anymore. We have so many things we need to fix in this country. Jesus. Those poor people.

[mrsukyankee]

This is horrible. I hope they get him soon.

[Velar Fricative]

I was hoping I’d wake up and he would have been found dead or alive. I hope there are no more innocent victims.

[cattledogkisses]

Apologies in advance if my thoughts are disjointed; I did not get much sleep last night.

This happened about 30 minutes from where I live, but was literally 7 minutes away from where my grandparents live. To say it has been an anxiety-inducing night with the shooter still at large does not quite cover it. A number of local businesses here in the city where I live are closed today out of caution while the manhunt continues.

I'm so gutted. Mainers often say Maine is a state that feels like a small town. Everybody seems to know everybody. There are so many who will be personally affected by this tragedy. I gave H an extra hug when he left for work, and I'm struggling to process that not far from here there are people who won't hug their loved ones this morning, or ever again.

[bcv513]

I have family in Lewiston and my boss grew up there. This is just awful. I’m positive that everyone in the area will know someone who was killed or injured. It’s just impossible to wrap my head around. And it doesn’t seem like the shooter had any connection to the bowling alley or the restaurant. We desperately need better mental health services in this country

[shauni27]

so much love to all those personally affected. We have friends in Lewiston and my husband works out of neighboring Auburn regularly. He has checked in with his team and so far, everyone is "ok."

I had similar thoughts to msmerymac; it is incredibly diverse and my first worry was that he was targeting refugees.

[melissa]

@@

I was watching the Under the Desk tiktok and she showed a photo of kids in lockdown at what looked like a library. In the photo, there was a guy working on his laptop as him and others huddle on the floor. As if the situation was a routine experience. That photo just hit me hard. Such a shame that college kids are getting used to lockdowns of this nature.

[scm1011]

This is horrifying.

@@
I also got a poorly timed robocall this morning informing us of the active shooter drill at my kids school scheduled for next week. I hate that my 4 & 6 year olds have to prepare for these kinds of events.

[pixy0stix]

Oct 26, 2023 7:29:53 GMT -5 melissa said:

@@

I was watching the Under the Desk tiktok and she showed a photo of kids in lockdown at what looked like a library. In the photo, there was a guy working on his laptop as him and others huddle on the floor. As if the situation was a routine experience. That photo just hit me hard. Such a shame that college kids are getting used to lockdowns of this nature.

FWIW, he was probably using the laptop to check the news, not working.

[cattledogkisses]

The shelter in place order is two towns away from me. My grandparents are still under a shelter in place order.

Reading that he had recently threatened to shoot up a military facility did not make it easy to watch my husband go off to work at a military facility this morning.

[aurora]

Hugs to everyone impacted.

My aunt and uncle met there at Bates College. They live far away now, but I have heard many stories about the great small town atmosphere and my heart breaks for the community.

[lucybrown]

Edit: Removed speculation. His mental health issues have not been connected to his military service.   

Big hugs to everyone impacted. I have no more words.

[cattledogkisses]

Oct 26, 2023 8:36:21 GMT -5 lucybrown said:

If the information provided is correct, this is the third veteran, PTSD-related event that I heard about yesterday. It's absolutely tragic for all involved.

Big hugs to everyone impacted. I have no more words.

The news has reported that he never deployed or saw combat.  I just want to avoid adding to the stigma of PTSD by associating this event with it, when there has not been any indication thus far that his reported mental health issues were related to PTSD or his military service.

[lucybrown]

Oct 26, 2023 9:27:15 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Oct 26, 2023 8:36:21 GMT -5 lucybrown said:

If the information provided is correct, this is the third veteran, PTSD-related event that I heard about yesterday. It's absolutely tragic for all involved.

Big hugs to everyone impacted. I have no more words.

The news has reported that he never deployed or saw combat.  I just want to avoid adding to the stigma of PTSD by associating this event with it, when there has not been any indication thus far that his reported mental health issues were related to PTSD or his military service.

Thank you for the correction.  I will edit my post as I also do not want to add to the stigma.  Personal stuff impacted my interpretation of what I read. 

[beetea]

Oct 26, 2023 6:05:04 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Apologies in advance if my thoughts are disjointed; I did not get much sleep last night.

This happened about 30 minutes from where I live, but was literally 7 minutes away from where my grandparents live. To say it has been an anxiety-inducing night with the shooter still at large does not quite cover it. A number of local businesses here in the city where I live are closed today out of caution while the manhunt continues.

I'm so gutted. Mainers often say Maine is a state that feels like a small town. Everybody seems to know everybody. There are so many who will be personally affected by this tragedy. I gave H an extra hug when he left for work, and I'm struggling to process that not far from here there are people who won't hug their loved ones this morning, or ever again.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I hope your loved ones stay safe and this nightmare is over as quickly as possible.

[nothingcontroversial]

This is extremely horrifying.

Sadly, there have been multiple mass shootings in the Pittsburgh area in the past two decades.

One of them happened at a hospital. The hospital employees sheltered in place for several hours until they were evacuated, floor by floor. One of my family members works at a different hospital, and she had to do an active shooter training after the event. (This family member works in an administrative role, not in patient care.) The trainer mentioned that, in regards to the people who sheltered in place for several hours but weren't in imminent danger, some of them mentioned being extremely hungry as they sheltered in place under their desks, to the point that some of them ate jars of candy off of their desks. 

I know that the danger of a potential GSW is much more serious than the danger of potentially being hungry for a few hours (although people do have serious medical conditions which make it dangerous in regards to their blood sugar) but this whole story from the family member led me to stock my desk at work with a bunch of foods that I can eat in a pinch if I were to need to shelter in place at my desk. I did this specifically to prepare for the scenario as described in my family member's training. 

[fluffycookie]

My heart goes out to everyone dealing with this. MH went to U Maine and has several frat brothers that are still in the Lewiston area or who have family/friends still there. He has spoken with one who's friend was killed.

It makes me so angry that he was under a mental health hold and hearing voices and he still had access to guns.