I never thought I’d get a bullet in my leg Shooting victim Zoey, age 10
AFTER at least 18 people out enjoying themselves were killed by a maniac, a girl who was shot during the rampage has asked: “Why do people do this?”.
Ten-year-old Zoey Levesque added: “I never thought I’d grow up and get a bullet in my leg.”
Robert Card – who police believe committed the murders in the US city of Lewiston in Maine – remained at large last night.
The 40-year-old army sergeant reservist was admitted to a mental health hospital weeks ago after allegedly expressing a desire to kill.
Officers say he was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and shot people dead at a bowling alley and then a bar four miles away.
Amid the manhunt, police have been investigating whether Card, said to be a firearms instructor, fled on a jet ski and got to the nearby state of Massachusetts.
As armed police took up positions in Lewiston, the city was placed into lockdown.
Maine Governor Janet Mills said Card is armed and dangerous, adding: “This is a dark day.”
The gunman stormed the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley at 7pm on Wednesday. Terrified kids and parents tried to flee as the killer fired indiscriminately.
Some children hid behind bowling pins and others lay in lane gutters. Zoey was bowling with other youngsters when the killing spree began.
Sitting with her mum Meghan, Zoey said: “Why do people do this? I was [thinking] ‘am I going to live and make it out of here? Are the cops going to come?’.”
Another bowler said he heard about 10 shots, thinking the first was a balloon popping.
After seeing the man with the gun, he scrambled down the alley, slid into the pin area and climbed into the machinery to hide.
The owners of the venue said: “None of this seems real, but unfortunately it is. We are devastated.
“We lost some amazing people from our bowling family and community last night.”
After murdering at least seven people at the bowling alley, the killer travelled to Schemengees bar and grill, where he murdered at least eight more.
Bosses at Schemengees said: “In a split second, your world gets turned upside down for no good reason.” They added that “great people in this community” had been murdered in the shooting.
Officials say that as well as those who have been killed, at least 13 people were wounded.
Card is said to have gone on the rampage weeks after being discharged from a fortnight stay in a mental health facility.
A bulletin sent to police said he was admitted after he reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base where
he was a reservist. His sister-in-law, Katie Card, said the family had tried to talk to him about the voices he said he was hearing.
She added he would “get mad” when they told him they were just in his head.
She confirmed that his mental health issues resulted in a weeks-long stay at a facility over the summer. Katie said: “Things have kind of gone downhill recently. We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him.”
She added: “As the [shooting] story was unfolding, we prayed that Rob had nothing to do with this.
“But when we heard the two places
where the shooting happened, my husband rushed home.”
Liam Kent grew up about half a mile from Card and his family, and said that they lived in “basically a compound”.
He added: “The family and Robert, they’re all gun fanatics.
“They are very much associated with right-wing militias. It’s known in the town to stay away from them.” He also said he remembered going to a shop when he was a child and seeing Card at a nearby weigh station with a dead deer.
Liam added: “[Card] was covered in blood with a gun on his back and a giant grin on his face.”
President Joe Biden has offered “full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack”.
He went on to call for Congress to pass a ban on the type of weapon used in the shooting.
Horror author Stephen King, 76, who is from Maine, criticised the easy access to guns in the US.
The writer, whose novels include Carrie, said: “The shootings occurred less than 50 miles from where I live.
“It’s the rapid-fire killing machines. [It’s] madness in the name of freedom.
“Stop electing apologists for murder.”