LEWISTON - An urgent police dragnet entered its second day for a man accused of gunning down 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in the US state of Maine, as President Joe Biden mourned "yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting."
Dozens of law enforcement agents surrounded the family home of 40-year-old suspect Robert Card, but by mid-evening agents left the property in Bowdoin, near Lewiston, to hunt for him elsewhere.
A wide area around Lewiston remained locked down more than 24 hours after Card allegedly went on a rampage, culminating in the deadliest mass shooting this year in America. Thirteen people were also wounded.
Authorities erected roadblocks, ordered schools and businesses closed, and told residents to stay indoors.
Governor Janet Mills said the suspect was "considered armed and dangerous, and police advised that Maine people should not approach him under any circumstances."
Card was seen in surveillance footage pointing a semi-automatic rifle as he walked into the Just-in-Time bowling alley on Wednesday.
In early evening, law enforcement agents surrounded the Card family home in Bowdoin, bringing in armored vehicles, and sending up drones and a helicopter.
State police warned "please come outside" and "we don't want anyone to get hurt" over a loudspeaker near the home, but later said the warnings were routine and not confirmation that Card was inside.
One longtime neighbor, Dave Letarte, said news of the shooting "floored me."
"I would have never expected that from him," he told AFP of Card.
Card is a member of the US Army Reserve. US media reported that he had recently been sent for psychiatric treatment after he said he was hearing voices.
Hundreds of police in military-style camouflage gear and FBI agents flooded the search zone in what Lewiston police chief David St. Pierre called "an all-hands-on-deck approach."
Biden called Maine's governor to offer federal support, and ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff at the White House and all government buildings.
"Once again, our nation is in mourning after yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting," he said.
Biden added that the gun violence that plagues the United States "is not normal, and we cannot accept it," urging lawmakers to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.