Maine gun store flooded with customers after telling scared residents to ‘come down for protection or ammo’ after bowling alley massacre
- Robert Card killed eighteen people in the city of Lewiston on Wednesday evening
- He is still missing almost 72 hours later and the town’s residents are scared
A Maine gun store that planned to close that day as police hunted gunman Robert Card was overrun Friday after opening its doors to frenzied citizens seeking to arm themselves.
3 Cousins Firearms in Lewiston, Maine, was among the businesses that chose to close Friday as the hunt for Card continued.
But after receiving online requests and messages to open, the store decided to meet the demand.
3 Cousins Firearms in Lewiston, Maine, today invited scared members of the public into the store to stock up on ‘ammunition or protection’
The Lewiston store said it will remain open ‘unless something changes’ to sell ‘ammunition and protection’ to the public
“It was a madhouse,” said an employee The Portland Press Herald.
In a Facebook announcement on Friday morning, the store said: ‘After numerous messages we decided to try it today at 10am.
“If anyone needs protection or ammunition, please go to 3 Cousins Firearms 201 Lincoln St.”
On its Facebook page, the store asked questions about what type of ammunition it still has in its inventory.
Heavily armed law enforcement personnel search an area, two days after a mass shooting, in Monmouth, Maine
Law enforcement officers temporarily detain people as manhunt continues in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Durham, Maine, Friday, October 27, 2023
Card remains on the run after leaving a gun and an apparent suicide note for his son.
Police do not yet know if he committed suicide in the river where his car was found, or if he is still alive and in hiding.
On Wednesday evening, the Army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley in Lewiston around 7 p.m.
He then traveled to a bar where a group of deaf cornhole players had gathered and shot them as well.
A total of 18 people were killed.
Card’s family says he recently became seriously mentally ill. He had also been fired from his job at a recycling plant.
The gunman’s family says they are “heartbroken” by the shooting and are doing everything they can to help police find him.
Here’s how the shooting unfolded Wednesday night in Lewiston, Maine. Card remains on the run, but his vehicle was found at a boat launch in Lisbon