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Manhunt Under Way For Mass Shooting Suspect in Maine. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:02]

COL. WILLIAM ROSS, MAINE STATE POLICE: Based on our investigation, we believe this is someone that should not be approached. This is someone that should be, -- if you come into any contact with this individual or someone that you think looks like this individual, you are to call 911.

And I will provide some tip line numbers at the conclusion of my briefing.

Lewiston Police Department, federal, state, county and other local municipalities are involved in a coordinated search at this moment for this individual. So there's the ongoing investigation and there's a search to apprehend this person. Both happen simultaneously.

I can't stress this enough. This is an ongoing investigation in the early stages. More information will come out in conjunction with the attorney general's office as the lead prosecutor. We can't share all of our information right now, and I'm sure you will understand that.

I'm going to give out two numbers that go to a tip line; 911 is also appropriate for this, but if anyone can call these two numbers, this would go to the State Police tip line, area code 207-213-9526, 207- 509-9002.

And we will be sending something out later that has that information in it, if you weren't able to grab that now. Again, this is a very fluid situation. We have a lot of resources, as Chief St. Pierre had mentioned earlier, that are on the ground in a coordinated effort to apprehend this individual.

We have notified the Department of Education, and they have determined what they're going to do with the schools. A lot of schools, area schools were shut down today based on our conversation with them. Again, as more information comes in, we will be providing it to you.

Thank you for your time. This is a very difficult time for, I think, the community of Lewiston, difficult time for, obviously, the victims' families. And it's a tough time for law enforcement. It was a rough night last night, but we're committed to bringing whoever's responsible for this to justice.

And, again, we are currently looking for Mr. Card right now, someone that we'd like to apprehend. Thank you. MIKE SAUSCHUCK, COMMISSIONER, MAINE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Thank

you, Colonel.

And FBI Special Agent in Charge Cohen, if you could join me, please.

JODI COHEN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Thank you.

My name is Jodi Cohen. I'm the special agent in charge of FBI Boston Division, which covers the state of Maine.

Our hearts go out to everyone who has impacted as a result of this senseless violence. The FBI is working hand in hand with our law enforcement partners. Our evidence response team is here processing these very extensive scenes.

We are providing investigative and tactical support, as well as our victim specialists are working with those affected by this tragedy. As this very active investigation continues to unfold, we are asking the public to stay vigilant and come forward with any information that you might have that you feel is helpful to our investigators.

My pledge is that the FBI will carry out this investigative case with rigor. We will work day and night alongside our law enforcement partners to get the answers to the questions this community deserves.

We thank the public for your continued cooperation and patience as we continue to work this very active investigation. Thank you.

SAUSCHUCK: Appreciate that.

And I would say that the reality here from a resource standpoint is that, when we have asked for anything, the answer has been yes, period, tactical teams, evidence response teams, full-blown investigative units, detective units that have come from multiple states, whether it's the commissioners from Vermont and New Hampshire reaching out to me directly, Massachusetts saying, what do you need, Mike? What can we do for the state of Maine?

So we are now prepared to try to take a few questions. And keep in mind, again, that we may not be able to answer as in-depth as you would like, and we don't plan on taking a great deal of questions.

I think follow-up press events will allow for that.

Sir?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: No one has really talked about the weapon that was used here, an AR-style (OFF- MIKE). I hope someone can talk about that.

But the other thing here is there are reports that this individual had mental health issues, that he made threats to shoot up the National Guard. So, clearly, there were some signs here that he was on someone's radar.

The question becomes, why was he in possession of this weapon and certainly why wasn't he stopped sooner?

[11:05:00]

SAUSCHUCK: Yes, I think those are all valid questions and certainly questions that we are looking into now, but not questions that we can answer today, considering that this occurred last night.

There's still an active search for the suspect in question. So I appreciate those questions, but not something we're going to be able to answer right now.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SAUSCHUCK: It is certainly one of those things that we want to follow up on, all aspects of that.

Go ahead right here. Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SAUSCHUCK: I'm not sure we have that information with us today. We wanted to break it down by gender, because that's something we had readily available. But we did not break this down into age ranges at all.

Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: What can you tell us about the background of the suspect in this case, or I should say the person of interest? Because I notice the language is very clear. So it's like the person of interest, not suspect.

So why use that terminology? And what can you tell us about his background?

SAUSCHUCK: Yes, I think we used person of interest last night for half of the room that was here for that press event.

As the colonel had mentioned, there is now arrest warrants for murder for this particular individual, Mr. Card. So he is viewed as a suspect, and there is a full-court press by all of our partners to bring him into custody.

What was the second piece of that question?

QUESTION: What can you tell us about his background (OFF-MIKE) the idea that he had voiced concerns about his own mental health, right, had been committed, according to language in the police bulletin, to a mental health facility for weeks.

How can someone that fits that profile still be in possession of semiautomatic weapons?

SAUSCHUCK: Well, I do think that the statutes around firearms and the possession of those are pretty complex. I know that we will be reviewing that information as we move forward, but that's not an answer that we're prepared to give today, because that leads to motive.

You're talking about behavioral health issues and how that impacts this situation. I would expect you will hear back from us on that in the future.

Right here, sir, right there.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) seen helicopters (OFF-MIKE) Can you tell us anything about what's leading you that far north of the scene where (OFF-MIKE)

SAUSCHUCK: Sure.

So we have law enforcement assets that are deployed over a number of communities doing follow-ups on a number of different things. So, as you can imagine, there's a great deal of search warrants that we're following up on. We do have partners that helicopters from the New Hampshire State Police. That copter was here last night to assist us as well.

So whether we have tactical elements out or we're searching an area, some of those air assets would be very, very valuable for us. So that's what they're doing.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SAUSCHUCK: We're not going to speak to what brings us to a specific community one way or the other.

Yes, ma'am, right here.

QUESTION: Identifying the unidentified victims, what are people encouraged to do? Is there DNA being tested for family members who may have missing loved ones? Like, what is that -- what's that approach right now?

SAUSCHUCK: Yes, so we did have a family reunification center open last night.

We do have behavioral health liaisons that are fully engaged to work with families and work with loved ones and work with victims, for that matter, that may be in the hospital and seeking treatment. So those things are actively occurring. We are dealing with each one of those situations separately. So, do we need DNA on that?

Are we just waiting to find a loved one, some kind of family member that we can make a notification? I think that varies across the board.

I'm going to take two more questions. I'm going to take two more.

Right here.

QUESTION: Yes. So, was there some sort of triggering event? (OFF- MIKE)

SAUSCHUCK: I think we're always concerned around motive. That -- you say triggering event, that's a motive for us. Again, that's not something we're prepared to discuss today, but I do appreciate the question. It's clearly something that's important.

One additional follow-up from you.

QUESTION: Can you help us understand why this location, why this bar, why this bowling alley? (OFF-MIKE) someone (OFF-MIKE) or something?

SAUSCHUCK: I think that does speak to motive, so I appreciate the follow-up, but not something we're going to be prepared to answer today.

I'm going to have one more question right here, sir, right here.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) arrests warrants issued today? And can you say if Card is still in the state or even if he's still alive?

SAUSCHUCK: Well, we're actively searching for him. If I knew the answers to those questions, then this would be a different press conference, I would assume.

So we don't know his location, and I will leave it at that. And we are working with the attorney general's office, reference to those...

(CROSSTALK)

SAUSCHUCK: So, with that in mind, we're done taking questions for now. So we are going to actually take off at this point. Thank you very much for being here. I appreciate that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: All right, there is the latest update, and a tragic update from all of the officials there. The death toll has now increased, 18 people killed in two mass shootings overnight, one female, most of them male, one female killed at the bowling alley.

And three people who were transferred to the hospital then died, bringing the total now to 18 people killed, 13 people injured. And they do not know where this man is, now with an arrest warrant for eight counts of murder. That will be going up, obviously. But they don't know where he is.

[11:10:07]

The manhunt is very much under way.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: But now clearly a suspect. I mean, we had been calling him a person of interest. But, clearly, he is now a suspect, and an arrest warrant has been issued.

They said eight counts of murder. And they expect that to go up as they identify these bodies. There are still 10 people that they haven't been able to identify, so this person now officially a suspect.

BOLDUAN: John Miller is here with us. We have got a whole panel of folks to help us walk through this.

John, what did you learn here?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we learned was, they have the resources they need. They have the engagement of every relevant federal agency, every data set, every technology.

And they have an investigation that's divided into two parts, one, the homicide investigation. Why? Why these places? Why these people? What's his background?

But, second -- and this would be the top priority -- is the manhunt, where they have devoted the largest number of people and resources, because it appears that, from hitting the two locations -- and when the commissioner was asked specifically why those places, he said, well, that goes to motive, which suggests -- it doesn't state implicitly, but it suggests that he picked those two places for a reason, that there was some connection either between him and those places or those people.

BOLDUAN: And suggesting they know more than they're saying publicly right now.

MILLER: Exactly.

But his escape is to the end of a road in the woods that has a trailhead and a boat launch. So it appears he knows the area. He didn't make that turn by mistake. It suggests he had a plan.

And the plan was to stay at large and not to be captured there or immediately after, as so many of these active shooters are, which adds another element to this. It's not just a manhunt within a small area.

BOLDUAN: Right.

MILLER: It's somebody who's got the resources and the training to put some distance between them, possibly.

SOLOMON: And, Jonathan, let me bring you in here.

I mean, what did you hear? I mean, we learned some new details. Of course, the death toll tragically being updated. But there were still a lot of questions that were left unanswered, perhaps because this suspect is still on the run. I mean, what else were you hearing and what else did -- stuck out to you?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, listen, there was a lot of insight during this press conference, but not a lot of information that people were really seeking.

What we heard was, just as Mr. Miller just said, there's a significant law enforcement coordination ongoing around the investigation that is under way. But the details are lacking. And that's probably by design, for one of two reasons.

One, either they just don't have the information or they're following up on investigative leads, and they don't want to reveal what their approach and methodology is going to be to address this.

But when you're addressing the public, you need to reassure them, right? And I think the number one thing that community is looking for right now are, are people safe? We heard limited reassurance that the community is safe, but we do know that there's a large-scale mobilization of law enforcement, both state, federal, and local, that are addressing this situation.

But I think that people want to hear, what specific actions are being taken? What is the area of operation even broadly that they're looking at? Do they think that the suspect is in the community or did they flee?

Commissioner Miller pointed out a really good point here, which is, based upon multiple shootings over time and distance and the fact that the shooter was able to evade police, shows that there is a more sophisticated level of planning that went into this attack, and, more importantly, how the suspect is evading police.

We need to understand, what are those resources that are being applied by law enforcement right now to address this suspect, who is now on the run for well over 12 hours?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

And, Commissioner Harrison, let me bring you in, former police commissioner in Baltimore.

That's also one of the things that I think is still lingering is the reassurances or just more information that is needed really for the public of, where exactly is the area, the search area at this point? And we know that there's a shelter-in-place for Lewiston, Lisbon, and Bowdoin. Bowdoin is where the suspect is from.

But limited information exactly how far people should be concerned in terms of the shelter-in-place. Why do you think that is? What does that tell you?

Well, thank you for having me.

MICHAEL HARRISON, FORMER BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, POLICE COMMISSIONER: I think, number one, that speaks to exactly why we see the State Police leading this, because this spans beyond any one jurisdiction and it's multiple jurisdictions. And they are now searching far beyond Lewiston. They're searching likely the entire state, even with help outside of the state.

[11:15:04]

And so the one thing -- and I had to do this many times in two major cities -- and your previous guests was right -- to give reassurance, number one, that we are on this and that law enforcement is on it, and that there is a coordinated, synchronized effort to find this individual and hold them accountable.

We would love to have had more details about the investigation about what's next, but giving the assurance that law enforcement is synchronizing their efforts, and it's a coordinated effort to locate this individual is number one. Yes, we want to get reassurance that people are safe. But I think, more importantly, in a state of crisis, reassuring people that all of the efforts are synchronized and all of the resources that are available to the president, to the government, to the mayors, city managers are all at play here.

And I think they did a good job of giving reassurance that they're united. As time goes on, we will hear more about details. As I said last night on the show, we talked about the skill and the ability of Mr. Card to inflict harm on so many people so fast.

I am concerned about his skill and ability to evade police for long periods of time, his ability to anticipate how police would come after him and his ability to inflict that amount of carnage again if he's faced with an encounter with law enforcement.

To have that much ammunition and to shoot that many rounds that fast, it's possible he could have more ammunition, as much, if not more, and could position himself to be able to have a violent encounter with law enforcement.

We all talked about the three likely encounters, suicide, surrender, and or a violent encounter with law enforcement. All of them are plausible, but all of them are very dangerous. And so this has to be very well-planned.

And, as a leader, we can't give too much too fast, because we have to make sure that we're standing in front of the decisions that Mr. Card is making.

BOLDUAN: Which seems to be a real challenge now, as we're watching as this is playing out, and they do not know, they're saying, where he is right now.

A question still also lingering is how many weapons they believe that he had or even has with him at this point.

If everyone can just stay with us, I want to we just got in a statement from President Biden on this. It's a pretty lengthy statement, but he says off the top: "Once again, our nation is in mourning after yet another senseless and tragic mass shooting. Today, Jill and I are praying for the Americans who've lost their lives, for those still in critical care and for the families, survivors, and community members' enduring shock and grief.

"I also urge area residents to heed the warnings and guidance of local officials. Numerous federal law enforcement personnel are on the scene and actively working with state and local partners. As I told the Maine -- Maine Governor Janet Mills and Senators Collins, King and Congressman Golden last night, I have directed my administration to provide everything that is needed to support the people of Maine. We will continue to be there every step of the way."

Bottom line, 18 people are dead today after two mass shootings last night and a suspect is now still on the run. And they do not know yet where he is.

We have got to get a quick break in. Got much more to come. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:23:13]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

We continue to follow our breaking news out of Lewiston, Maine. That is where a mass shooter this hour is still on the loose. It has been more than 15, 16 hours since the shootings took place. And people this morning across multiple cities are still sheltering in place.

Here's what we just learned from Maine's governor on what she called a dark day in Maine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JANET MILLS (D-ME): I'm profoundly saddened to stand before you today to report that 18 people lost their lives and 13 people injured in last night's attacks.

But the full weight of my administration is behind law enforcement's efforts to capture the person of interest, Robert Card, to hold whoever's responsible for this atrocity accountable under the full force of state and federal law, and to seek full justice for the victims and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: As you heard there from the governor, the latest update is 18 people were killed in these two mass shootings, 13 others were wounded.

And it truly was in just minutes that this played out. Eight of those killed have so far been identified, eight families now informed. There are victims right now who officials just told us in this press conference they say have not yet been identified. And so we know that there are families still waiting to hear the fate of their loved ones.

Let's start with CNN's Shimon Prokupecz right now.

Shimon, you -- we heard you in that press conference. What more are you hearing?

PROKUPECZ: Well, I mean, look, I think there are questions about this suspect now, his background, what was going on in this person's life.

[11:25:07]

They -- law enforcement here seems to have this information. They're investigating it. And they certainly say they don't want to talk about that right now. I mean, that's a key issue here. The gun ownership, the -- what was going on in his life, the motive here, it's big questions that still need to be answered.

I think the other thing in all of this is just how quickly all of this unfolded. You're talking about a timeline. It still wasn't thorough as it probably could be. And, hopefully, we will get there with them, with law enforcement. But they're talking about the first 911 call coming at 6:56 p.m., of a report of a shooting.

This is at the bowling alley where seven people would ultimately be killed. But then, 12 minutes later, at 7:08 p.m., there are multiple 911 calls at this bar Schemengees, where eight people died, and then three people died in the hospital.

So we have that 12-minute gap between 6:56 to 7:08. What happens after 7:08? They find the suspect's car. What happens at that point? And now, of course, we really didn't get to talk about this manhunt and what's going on.

One of the communities that law enforcement has been focused on is where they found the car that's in Lisbon. But I was there all morning. It's really just the Lisbon Police Department, the 17-person police department, that's out there searching for this individual. We have not seen a bigger presence there. Perhaps that has changed since this press conference has happened.

So the bottom line is, obviously, there's still a lot of questions. And it just seems the officials at this point don't want to answer those questions. They have this ongoing investigation.

And then, of course, look, in the end, this is all about the families who, sadly, are just more families in this country who are grieving today because of what happened here. So, I think, for the city officials here, for the state officials, they're certainly going to have to answer some more questions at some point. And, hopefully, that happens.

But the big thing now also, obviously, is this manhunt. Where is this person? How safe are people? People certainly in the communities don't feel safe. They're on edge. Stores are empty. Stores are closed. People are not leaving their homes.

So this is a lot for this community to deal with and for state and city officials here to deal with right now.

SOLOMON: You have to imagine. I mean, we don't know if this person is on foot, if he's driving, if he perhaps is even in a boat. I mean, there are still so many questions about where he could have been.

Shimon Prokupecz, stick with us for just a moment. We want to continue the conversation and bring in our panel. John

Miller is still with us here, Andrew McCabe, Daniel Brunner, and Stephen Gutowski.

Welcome back, and thank you to you all.

Andy, let me start with you.

With so many agencies involved, walk us through what's happening on the ground, because, as Shimon pointed out, there are still a lot of questions in terms of where this suspect is and sort of how police are going to ultimately find him. So walk us through what's happening on the ground between these various agencies now.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, what should be happening -- and we don't know if this is the case, because we're just, quite frankly, not getting a lot of information about this.

But what should be happening is all those agencies report to the incident command structure, which is usually led by your state police officials, and they have the authority and the responsibility to coordinate among the agencies, to divvy up tasks, to make sure that each agency with its unique skills and legal authority are using those things to maximum result to try to solve this problem.

So, typically, you would think of the federal agencies, particularly like the FBI, to be focused on the intelligence side of this, using court-authorized access to electronic surveillance, identifying devices and telephone numbers and e-mail accounts and those sorts of things to try to generate leads, maybe state officials thinking more in terms of state law enforcement doing some more of the maybe grid search work, if they have identified areas where they think they should be looking for this guy, and then local police responding to local calls.

But the facts are, we're not seeing a lot of that execution in an obvious way on the ground. It doesn't mean it's not happening, but we're just not seeing it. And they're not telling us very much. So, you have a little bit of a disconnect here. And I think that disconnect is starting to create the impression that things might not be as coordinated as they could be.

I hope that's not the case, but we'll have to see.

[11:30:00]