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Maine Gov: 18 People Killed, 13 Injured In Mass Shootings; Sources: Investigators Developing Working Theory On Why Suspect Chose Mass Shooting Locations; Humanitarian Aid - But No Fuel - Enters Gaza From Egypt. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm Boris Sanchez in Washington, D.C. with John Berman on the ground in Maine where an urgent manhunt is underway for the suspect in two mass shootings. And CNN just learned the name of one of the 18 people gunned down in that rampage.

Tricia Asselin was a 53-year-old mother who worked at the Just-in-Time bowling alley, according to her brother. That's one of the two locations where gunfire broke out. The other was a bar and grill, just a few miles away, about a 10-minute drive.

Police say 13 other people were wounded, and hospital officials say three of them are in critical condition. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Yes, there is this huge manhunt underway in the surrounding area here. Hundreds of officers, state and federal, on the hunt for this alleged mass murderer, 40-year-old Robert Card. His family has urged Card to surrender. That is according to his brother. But that man has now been on the run for some 18 hours now, which has really shut down much of the area: schools, stores, banks, the Department of Motor Vehicles, L.L.Bean, which is about 15 miles away, which many people know is open on Christmas Day, it is shut today because of safety concerns.

Everyday life very much different today, as residents have been directed to shelter in place, secure your homes, secure your cars, is what officials are saying. And that order was just extended in the last hour.

Now, this man, Card, Robert Card, is an Army reservist. Sources do say he was committed to a military hospital for a few weeks this past summer.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should be considered armed and dangerous. 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.

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BERMAN: All right. Let's get right to CNN's Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz, who is in Lisbon, Maine, about 10 minutes from where I am.

The shootings took place here. The suspect's car was found in Lisbon, where you are, Shimon. You've seen a lot of activity in the last hour or so.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. Certainly, there's been a lot more activity than we've seen for most of the day in the last few hours or so. I'm standing here, John, because back here we were told that there were searches going on. We were trying to get down this block, but then the police closed it all off. We saw a SWAT team with the heavily armed vehicles that we've been seeing leaving the staging area and heading out to do the searches.

We saw one go down this way. There may be two of them down there now. And what we were told was that there was a search going on up here, and so the police were not letting anyone up. We tried to go up. They told us to back off.

But it's sort of been this way on this road here, this stretch of road. Cops, police cars, other rescue vehicles up and down, every time they're on their way to do a search. They would come up this way. We try to follow them, but we're not having a lot of luck because they're going up these roads that we can't kind of go up. And then if we try to go around, we can't get in.

But you're talking about just how quiet things are. I want to show you, actually, as you were talking, John, it kind of hit me, like, this is sort of a strip mall, right? And every store here closed. Normally, these stores would be open. You have a Verizon cell phone shop, a bank, an auto parts shop and then the McDonald's here closed.

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Everything here closed. Every business, every restaurant, every place, every office here shut down and you can see just empty. There is no one around. Everyone's staying home in this neighborhood.

The police have been focused a lot on this area. This is where he dumped his car. This is where the suspect dumped his car. Where he went after that, right now, a mystery. Law enforcement out here, searching. They go into the woods and they come back out.

I don't exactly know, it's not very clear to us how they're planning these searches or why they're going out when they go out. But certainly in the last few hours, we've seen an increase on that, John.

BERMAN: It's where they found - Lisbon is where they found the suspect's car near a boat launch right by the Androscoggin River. So there has been concern that maybe the water was one means for him to escape, maybe by foot, who knows. And the shelter in place warnings are very specific, Shimon, to people in their residences and cars. Secure your residence, secure your car, because there is concern that this man, Robert Card, who's armed and dangerous, could try to shoot his way in to a house to try to seek shelter or shoot his way into a car to try to get away further.

I do want to ask you about what you were just saying about the SWAT teams behind you. I think that sounds extreme to some people or alarming or something urgent is going on, but it's really just the process. Yes, they get a tip, they send people in, they search ...

PROKUPECZ: Yes.

BERMAN: ... they go somewhere else with the SWAT team, yes?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, that's exactly what they're doing. They're going out as teams. It could be two or three of those BearCat, those heavily armed vehicles. Those are the SWAT teams. They'll go as a team. We've seen tractors when they're going into the woods. And then they're - they have other officers, some from the Lisbon Police Department, some from outside law enforcement, they go out.

It's a small convoy of probably five or six vehicles. They go out together. There's also an ambulance, just in case if someone gets hurt. They have an ambulance attached to the convoy, and then they go out. And where they're exactly going, it's been all different locations.

We were talking in the woods, then we were told back here it may be a building. We're starting to get to know the cops here. This is about - this is a police department of about 17. We've been out here since about 5 AM, so they're starting to get to know us. And so we're sort of showing up, and they're like, oh, you can't be here.

But we've seen the activity certainly pick up. But there is not this sort of sense of urgency that you would see in other manhunts. I've been at other locations when there's been manhunts, it's not like that. This is more subdued. It's calm. It's very methodical. It almost seems like they know what they're looking for and what location and when to go.

Yes, they get 911 calls. They get calls. People are worried that they hear something or that they see something and so they call, and the police are taking everything seriously and they go. But you're not seeing sort of this everyone's running and gunning and like this sort of urgency here. Things are calm.

BERMAN: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, keep us posted.

Shimon is literally following the manhunt as it moves through this area. Let us know when you end up somewhere else.

Let's get right to CNN Anchor and Chief Investigative Correspondent, Pamela Brown.

Pam, I do understand you're getting some new information about this suspect in a current working theory in the investigation.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mm-hm. It is a working theory among law enforcement officials right now. They try to sort out why the suspect, Robert Card, targeted these two locations. And law enforcement sources tell my colleague, John Miller, that a working theory is Card recently broke up with a longtime girlfriend and that these were two places that the couple frequented.

She apparently was supposed to be there last night for a tournament. I'm told there was a cornhole tournament there at that bar. And so that is one potential reason why he targeted these two locations, because it was places that he frequented with his ex-girlfriend.

But we also know, and a family member confirms, that he had an acute mental health episode over the summer. He was hearing voices. He had thoughts of harming fellow soldiers, according to law enforcement sources. And after that, he was admitted into a mental health military facility. And he was let go after an evaluation, let go after about a few weeks, we're told by sources.

Now, what the terms were of that release, what the evaluation entailed, those are all big questions. I've reached out to that clinic, I have not heard back. But those are some big questions, because after that, as you know, John, he was able to have access to his firearms. We know he had a large collection, according to people we've been speaking to. He was a skilled marksman. He was considered one of the best shooters in his Army Reserve Unit, according to a former colleague of his.

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And so there's a lot of looming questions about his mental health status and why he was allowed to leave that clinic, have access to those firearms. We know there's no red flag law in the state of Maine.

But he's also someone who's been described to us by those who knew him as an avid outdoorsman. One former colleague saying he would be very comfortable out in the woods. We know, according to property records, he had a boat and that his car was ditched at a port - at a place where a boat could be docked. And right now, law enforcement, they're searching land and the waters, trying to find this man who they say is still armed and dangerous.

BERMAN: All right. Pamela Brown, thank you very much.

Again, the news there, part of it, he was committed for mental health reasons for two weeks over the summer after reporting hearing voices and threatening to kill people at a National Guard base. But after a couple weeks, was then released.

Joining me now, CNN Law Enforcement Contributor and retired FBI supervisory special agent, Steve Moore. And Steve, I want to focus first on this manhunt here. What do you see as the threat to this community where I'm standing right now, where they have issued this shelter in place and told people to secure their homes and secure their vehicles? What's the biggest threat? STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: The biggest threat right now, what - from what I would see is, number one, maybe he has a desire to inflict more casualties. We don't know what the voices in his head were telling him. Otherwise, the other threat would be he has certain needs as a human being at this point. He needs shelter. He needs food. He needs water.

If he planned this out carefully, he will have a supply of food and water for a while and may not need shelter. But if he hasn't planned it out, he's going to go looking for food and water and potentially shelter. That you get from population, from people, from buildings.

And so he may attempt to get into buildings. He may attempt to get into homes. It's potentially the reality that he could have already done it. In cases before, we've seen that people locked down, police go around, check doors, make sure everything's closed. And the suspect has already gotten into a house and is holding people hostage.

So that's one small possibility, but it is a possibility. The other is that he's going to go door knocking pretty soon and try to get his stuff. So I would say that this is a very significant concern.

BERMAN: Shimon Prokupecz, our correspondent who's following the manhunt throughout the area, has been talking about how SWAT teams have been going into neighborhood, going into one neighborhood, searching, coming out, going into another. Based on that, how do you think that officers are going about this search right now?

MOORE: Well, I've got some experience with that from my time on SWAT back when my hair was darker. What you do is try to figure out a plan on how you're going to eliminate certain areas of the perimeter that you're searching.

I mean, if you went in and searched, say, this - an area the size of a football field and then left, that is no longer searched anymore. He could have come right back into where you were. So you not only have to search an area, you have to secure it after you've searched it, which means you're just using up people and the manpower requirements for this are just incredible.

The other thing is these searches have to go at a pretty slow pace because - I mean, think about it: he's trained, he's a marksman and he has a long rifle. So the searchers are going to go in and no matter how good the searchers are, the person who is being searched for will see them before they see him.

And so you have to provide a search pattern where there's crossing fire, protective fire in case they're attacked, and you have to determine a search pattern: are you going to search in grids, are you going to search in a big circle and move the perimeter in or are you just going to search an area when you get a 911 call.

These are all hard decisions that are made at the command post level.

BERMAN: And one of the last things I'll say is this area, yes, it's heavily wooded in some places, there's water nearby, but there's also a lot of people who live not too far from here. The greater Portland area that Lewiston is part of has half a million people.

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So there are bustling communities that I imagine could be at risk.

MOORE: Yes. Yes. I mean, he could be anywhere within - well, heck he could be a thousand miles away by now. But what the police are going to do, what authorities are going to do, while they're doing these searches locally, they're going to go to his social media, to his personal devices that he left behind and they're going to search his car to determine, did he have MREs in there, did he have equipment to help him camp, is there evidence that he took anything out of the back.

That'll help them determine whether he is hunkering down in the area or whether he used that as just a place to pick up another vehicle and get moving faster.

BERMAN: Steve Moore, thank you for helping us understand what we're seeing in all of these communities nearby. Appreciate your help on this.

So the local hospital here in Lewiston was inundated with patients in the aftermath of the shootings here. More than 100 off-duty workers were called in to help treat the victims. Our breaking news coverage from Lewiston, Maine back right after a quick break.

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BERMAN: All right. This just in to CNN, a city counselor from Auburn, Maine, which is the town right next to this one, which is Lewiston, a city counselor there says that his son was killed at the bar behind me right here while he was trying to stop the shooter. This is the father's account.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... you learn that your son didn't make it?

LEROY WALKER SR., SON KILLED IN SHOOTING: What time you got?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have 2.15.

WALKER: Two and a half hours ago, over 14 hours, my whole family sat on pins waiting for these knuckleheads to decide that they can reach into my son's pocket and pull out his ID and then they decided to tell us that he had been shot and killed at the scene.

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BERMAN: Leroy Walker, who just lost his son at the bar behind me, which was the second location where eight people were shot and killed. The first location where Robert Card opened fire was a bowling alley about 10 minutes from where I am. CNN's Brian Todd is just outside the crime scene in that bowling alley.

Tell us what happened there, Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, just a few moments ago, I can kind of take you through where we are right now. The bowling alley, it's called the Just-In-Time Recreation Center, is just behind us. You can't see it from where we are, but this road loops around to the left and it's just beyond those trees there.

Just a moment ago, we saw two FBI vehicles coming in here, including one fairly large truck. So they're still processing evidence here at this bowling alley. What we can tell you also is about the timeline of the calls that came in, the 911 calls that came in last night, just after the shooting took place.

The first shooting scene was here, right behind me and the first 911 calls came in at 6:56 PM Eastern Time from this location about an active shooter. Then at 7:08 PM Eastern Time, just 12 minutes later, that's when the 911 calls came in from your location, John, the Schemengees Bar area of an active shooter there.

So just 12 minutes elapsed between the 911 calls from this location and the 911 calls from the second location.

We do have an account of a witness who was here at the bowling alley when the shooter came in. Here's what the witness had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well we were inside and just a normal night of bowling and out of nowhere he just came in and there was a loud pop. I thought it was a balloon. I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw that it was not a balloon, he was holding a weapon, I just booked it down the lane and I slid basically into where the pins are and climbed up in the machine and was on top of the machines for about 10 minutes until the cops got there.

I don't know how to explain. I don't think you're supposed to see that in real life.

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TODD: And again, a total of 18 people killed, 13 people injured. A short time ago, we did get an update from one of the hospital's treating patients, the Central Maine Health Care Center. Their head doctor, John Alexander, told us that within 45 minutes, they brought in 14 patients last night, and we're supposed to get an update shortly from another medical center about the condition of the patients there, John?

BERMAN: All right. Brian Todd, outside the bowling alley where the shooting began.

Brian, thank you very much. We just got more information about one of the victims who was killed in the bar, Schemengees behind me. And forgive me, I'm going to read this here.

Bryan MacFarlane was 40 years old. He was participating in a cornhole tournament at the bar. We were told this bar is a frequent location for big gatherings and events, a cornhole tournament for the deaf community.

We're told Bryan MacFarlane, aged 40, was part of the deaf community in the Lewiston area and usually goes to Schemengees on Wednesdays where the deaf community gathers to play cornhole.

That information just in. Bryan MacFarlane, aged 40, loved riding his bicycle and hanging out with his dog named Eminem (ph).

One of the 18 people now killed here.

We are learning more information about the victims, even as this intense manhunt continues.

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Robert Card, age 40, an armed killer, armed and dangerous on the loose. Much more straight ahead.

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SANCHEZ: More desperately needed humanitarian aid has arrived in Gaza from Egypt in the form of food, medicine and medical supplies, but still no fuel.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says 12 aid trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing earlier today.

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But Israel continues to block deliveries of fuel altogether, saying that Hamas would only divert it for military use.