Massacre in Maine (USA)
“It’s going to take time to get back to our lives before.”
The day after the news of the death of the shooter who shot dead 18 people in Lewiston on Wednesday evening, residents said they were “relieved.”
PublishedOctober 28, 2023, 7:08 p.m.
For two days, the city lived to the rhythm of the incessant ballet of police cars.
Getty Images via AFP
After a gigantic manhunt, Maine residents say they are “relieved” Saturday, the author of one of the worst killings in recent years in the United States having been found dead the day beforewith authorities saying he committed suicide.
Body discovered in semi-trailer
Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, Robert C. opened fire Wednesday evening in a bowling alley in Lewiston, then about ten minutes later, in a bar-restaurant in this town of 36,000 inhabitants, killing 18 people and injuring 13. “At 7:45 p.m. last night, Robert C. was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Michael Sauschuck, Maine public safety official, said Saturday morning during a ‘a press conference.
The body of the 40-year-old army reservist was discovered in a tractor-trailer in the parking lot of a recycling site near a river in Lisbon Falls, about 20 minutes from Lewiston. In total, police recovered three firearms, two near Robert C.’s body and one in his car which was parked nearby. Seven people lost their lives in the bowling alley, eight in the bar-restaurant and three injured people died in hospital. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 76 years old. Among them, a father and his son aged 44 and 14, and a couple aged 73 and 76.
“I’m glad he’s dead.”
Authorities said they are currently unable to say when the suspect took his own life, or determine a motive for his actions. They nevertheless emphasized that Robert C. suffered from mental health problems, which constitutes an important element of their investigation. The macabre discovery put an end to a two-day huntmarked by the confinement of the inhabitants of the second largest city of Maine, in the northeast of the United States.
Guadalupe Hursh, a resident of Lewiston, told AFP on Saturday morning that she was “relieved” by this outcome. “The only thing I can say is that we need more help focused on mental health.” “I’m glad he’s dead,” said Danica (who did not wish to give her last name), admitting to having been “very scared” when the shooter was on the run. Schools and businesses closed their doors after the tragedy. The city lives to the rhythm of the incessant ballet of police cars. The confinement notice was lifted on Friday afternoon.
“Epidemic of gun violence”
“It’s truly appalling what happened and it’s going to take time to get back to our lives before,” Danica continued. “It is a small city. This kind of thing doesn’t happen here.” This killing is the worst in the United States since that of the Uvalde school in Texas, where a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022.
Lamenting “two tragic days”, Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that he “will continue to do everything in (his) power to end this epidemic of gun violence.” The American president had asked Congress on Thursday to adopt “a ban on assault weapons” – yet another call of its kind by the Democrat, despite a majority not found for decades for such a change in legislation. Maine is one of the states with the lowest per capita homicide rate, and Wednesday’s 18 deaths are higher, according to the Everytown Association, than the annual average of firearm homicides in the state. .
(AFP)
2023-10-28 17:08:58
#time #lives
