Youre watching cnn news central. Im Boris Sanchez in washington, d. C. With john berman on the ground in maine where an urgent manhunt is under way for the suspect in two Mass Shootings. And cnn just learned the name of one of 18 people gunned down in that rampage. Trisha ashlan was a 53yearold mother who worked at the Bowling Alley, according to her brother, that is one of the locations where the shooting broke out. The other was a bar grille, a tenminute drive, three of them in critical condition, john. Yeah, this is huge manhunt under way in the surrounding area here. Hundreds of officers state and federal on the hunt for this alleged mass murderer. 40yearold robert card. His family has urged card to surrender. That is according to his brother. But that man is now been on the run for some 18 hours now which is 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. 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 you think looks like this individual, you are to call 911. All right. Lets get right to cnns senior crime and justice correspondent, Shimon Prokupecz who is in lisbon, maine, about ten minutes from where i am. The shootings took place here. The suspects car was found in lisbon where you are are, shimon. Youve seen a lot of activity in the last hour or so. Reporter yeah, certainly, theres been a lot more activity than weve seen for most of the day in the last few hours or so. Im standing here, john, because back here, we were told that there were searches going on. We would try to get down the block, then the Police Closed it all off. We saw a s. W. A. T. Team with heavily armed vehicles that weve been seeing leaving the staging area and heading out to do the searches. We saw one going down this way. There may be two of them down there now. And what we were told is that there was a search going on up here. And so the police were not letting anyone out. We tried to go out, they told us to back off but its sort of been this way, on this road here, this stretch of road, cops, police cars, other Rescue Vehicles up and down, every time theyre on their way to do a search, they would come up this way. We tried to follow them, but were not having a lot of luck because theyre going up these roads that we cant kind of go up. And if we try to go around, we cant get in. But youre talking about just how quiet things are. I want to show you, as you were talking, john, it kind of hit me. This is sort of a strip mall, right . Every store here, closed. Normally, these stores would be open, a verizon cell phone shop. A bank, an Auto Parts Shop and then the mcdonalds here closed. Everything here, closed. Every business, every restaurant, every place, every office here, shut down. And you can see just empty. Theres no one around. Everyone is 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, they dont exactly know, its not clear to us how theyre planning the searches or why theyre going out when they go out, but certainly in the last few hours, weve seen an increase on that, john. This is where lisbon is where they found the suspects car near a boat launch near the androscoggin river, there was concerns maybe the water was some means to escape maybe by foot. And the warnings very specific, secure your residences, secure your car, because there is concern, this man, robert card, is Armed And Dangerous could try to shoe his way in to get into a house or car or go farther. I do want to ask you about the s. W. A. T. Teams behind you. I think that sounds extreme to some people, or alarming that something urgent is going on. But its really just the process. Yes, they get a tip, they send people in, they search, they go somewhere else with the s. W. A. T. Team, yes . Yeah, thats exactly what theyre doing, going out as teams. It can be two or three of those bearcat, those heavily armed vehicles. Those are the s. W. A. T. Teams. Theyll go as a team. Weve seen tractors where they go Into The Woods. And then they have other officers, some from the Lisbon Police department. Some from outside Law Enforcement, they go out, a small convoy of probably five or six week vehicles. They go out together, theres also an ambulance in case someone gets hurt. They have an ambulance attached to the convoy and then they go out. Where exactly theyre going, all different locations, we were talking in the woods, then back here, maybe a building. Were starting to get to know the cops here. This is a Police Department of about 17. Weve been out here since about 5 00 a. M. Theyre starting to get to know us. And so, you know, were sort of showing up, oh, you cant be here. But, weve seen the activity, certainly, pick up. But theres not this sort of sense of urgency that you would see in other manhunts. Ive been at other locations when theres been manhunts. Its not like that. This is more subdued. Its calm, its very methodical. It almost seems like they know what theyre 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. So, they call. And the police are taking everything seriously, and they go. But youre not seeing sort of this everyone is running and gunning and this sort of urgency here. Things are calm. 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. Lets get right to cnn anchor and cnn chief correspondent pamela brown. Pamela, i do understand youre getting new information about this suspect and a current Working Theory in the investigation. It is a Working Theory among Law Enforcement officials right now. They try to sort out why the subject robert card targeted these two locations. And a Law Enforcement official says at Working Theory that card recently broke up with a longtime girlfriend and these were the two places that the couple frequented. She was apparently supposed to be there for a tournament, there was a Corn Hole Tournament at that bar. And that is one particular reason why he targeted the two locations because this is a place that he frequented with his exgirlfriend. But we also know, and a Family Member confirmed that he had an acute Mental Health episode over the summer. He was Hearing Voices. And he had thoughts of harming fellow soldiers according to Law Enforcement sources and after that, he was admitted into a Mental Health facility. And he was let go after an evaluation, let go after a few weeks by sources. Now, what the terms were of that real lease, what that investigation entailed, i have reached out to that clinic, i have not heard back. Those are 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. He was a skilled marksman. And he was one of the best shooters according to a former colleague of his. Theres looming questions about his Mental Health status, why he was allowed to leave that clinic, have access to those firearms. We know theres no red flag law in the state of maine. Hes been described to us as those who knew him as an avid outdoorsman saying he would be very comfortable in the woods. We know according to property records he had a boat and his car was ditched at a port where a boat could be docked. Theyre searching land and waters trying to find this man who they say is Armed And Dangerous. 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 of weeks, was then released. Joining me now cnn Law Enforcement contributor retired fbi supervisory agent steve moore. Steve, i want to focus on the manhunt here, what do you see as the threat to this community where im standing right now where they have issued this shelter in place and told people to secure their homes and secure their vehicles . Whats the biggest threat . The biggest threat right now, from what i would see, is, number one, maybe he has a desire to inflict more casualties. We dont 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 hasnt planned it out, hes 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. Its potentially the reality that he should have already done it. In cases before, weve seen that people lock down, police go around, check doors make sure everything is closed. And the suspect has already gotten into a house and is Holding People hostage. So thats one small possibility. But it is a possibility. The other is that hes going to goal door knocking pretty soon and try to get his stuff. So, i would say that this is a very significant concern. Shimon prokupecz, our correspondent who is following the manhunt throughout the area has been talking about how s. W. A. T. Teams have been going into neighborhoods. 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 . Well, ive got some experience from that from my time on s. W. A. T. Back where my hair was darker. What you do is try to figure out a plan on how youre going to eliminate certain areas of the perimeter that youre searching. I mean, if you went in and searched, say, 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 youve searched it. Which means youre just using up people. And 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. Hes trained. Hes 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 Search Pattern where theres crossing fire, protected fire, in case of that act. And you have to determine a Search Pattern. Are you going to search in grids . Or 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. And one of the last things ill say, this area, yes, its heavily wooded in some places. Theres water nearby. But theres also a lot of people who live not too far from here. The Greater Portland area that lewiston is part of has 500,000 people. So there are bustling communities that i imagine could be at risk. Yes, yes. I mean, he could be anywhere within well, in fact, he could be a Thousand Miles Away by now. But what the police are going to do, what authorities are going to do, while theyre doing these searches locally, theyre going to go to his social media, to his personal devices that he left behind, and theyre 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 will 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. Steve moore, thank you for helping us understand what were 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 offduty workers were called in to help treat the victims. Our Breaking News S Coverage f lose lelewiston, mamaine, back k aft quick brbreak. All right. This just into cnn, a City Councillor from auburn, maine, which is the town right next to this one, lewiston, a City Counselor there said his son was killed at the bar behind me right here while he was trying to stop the shooter. We learned that your son didnt make it. What time do you got . 2 15. 2 1 2 hours ago, over 14 hours my whole family sat on pins waiting for these knuckleheads to decide to reach into my sons pocket and pull out his i. D. , and then they decided to tell us that he had been shot and killed at the scene. 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 ten minutes from where i am. Cnns brian todd is just outside the crime scene in that Bowling Alley. Tell us what happened there, brian . Reporter well, john, just a few moments ago, i can kind of take you to where we are right now, the Bowling Alley, its called the just in time recreation center, its just behind us, you cant see it from where we are, the road loops to the left just behind the trees there. Just a moment ago we saw two fbi vehicles coming in here, including one fairly large truck so theyre still processing evidence here at this Bowling Alley. What we can tell you, the time line about the 911 calls that came in last night just after the shooting took place. The first Shooting Scene was right behind me, first 911 calls came in at 6 56 p. M. Eastern time from this location. 7 08 p. M. Eastern time, just 12 minutes later, thats when the 911 calls came from your location, john, the schemengees bar there from the shooter there. Just 12 minutes lapsed between the 911 calls from this location and the 911 calls from the second location. We do have account of a witness here at the Bowling Alley when the shooter came in. Heres what the witness had to say. Just another night of bowling. And out of nowhere, he just came in, there was a loud pop. I had my back turned to the door. 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 into the machine and was on top of the machine for about ten minutes in the cops got there. I dont think youre supposed to see that in real life. Reporter and again, a total of 18 People Killed, 13 people injured. A short time ago, we did get an update from one of the hospitals treating patients, central me Maine Health Care center, they brought in 14 patients last night and were supposed to get another update about the conditions of patients there. John. 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, Brian Mcfarland was 40 years old. He was participating in a Corn Hole Tournament at the bar, we were told this bar is a frequent location for big gatherings and events. A Corn Hole Tournament for the Deaf Community. Were told Brian Mcfarland was part of the Deaf Community in the lewiston area. And usually goes to schemengees on tuesday where the Deaf Community goes. He loved riding his bicycle and hanging out with his dog named m m. One of the 18 People Killed here. We are learning more information about the victims even as this intense manhunt continues. Robert card, age 40, an armed killer, Armed And Dangerous on the loose. Much more straight ahead. More desperately needed humanitarian aid has arrived in gaza from egypt in the form of food, medicine and medical supplies, but still, no fuel. Palestine Red Crescent Society said 12 aid trucks entered gaza at the rafah Border Crossing earlier today. Israel continues to block deliveries of fuel altogether, saying hamas would only divert it for military use. Military with a raid in gaza, images by the Israeli Defense forces shows images of tanks and a bulldozer moving in, the tanks firing artillery before ultimately leaving the area. The idf said its part of the next stages of combat which include a Ground Incursion. Cnns editor Nic Robertson joins me from sderot. Nic, the strongest raid, that weve seen, intensifying with the potential for a Ground Incursion to come soon. Reporter yeah, we were watching it from right here last night. Because the idf hadnt announced it was a Ground Incursion, we didnt know what we were witnessing, but over my shoulder in that direction, there was tank fire going across the hill. We could hear gunfire going as well, and detonations we hadnt heard before. But im going to ask john to show you what appears to be some fires just lit on the hillside behind us there. Weve been watching whats going on here. And in the past half an hour or so, several, half a dozen, probably, flares have been fired up from the ground. And we cant tell whether theyre coming from inside of gaza or outside of gaza. But those flares have been coming very close to this town here, and theyre falling in fields, fields that are on this side of the gaza fence. On the israel side of the gaza fence. And it appears to us, and i have to say appears at this stage, because we dont know for sure, as if the flares are being fired up from the gaza side and theyre landing on the israeli side. And if is hamas or another group firing up those flares, it could be because theyre worried about the potential for an incursion coming from here. Nothing weve seen indicates an incursion is about to come from around from where we are at the moment. But each night, we see different developments. We learn Different Things from the idf in the morning. But right now, these fires that youre looking at here have been started, it appears, on the israeli side of the border fence by flares that were fired into the sky. Weve seen a lowlevel Drone Operating in this area. Heard small arms fire as well. We may get more clarity on this in the coming hours. But i just think it does speak to what youre saying, the volatility around the border fence right now, the perception on both sides that there can be a larger scale Ground Incursion, bigger than the one we witnessed last night that could come in the coming days, boris. Obviously a fluid situation, nic, please keep us posted on what youre seeing. Lets dig deeper with Israeli National spokesman jonathan henry. It sounds like a staging for a larger Ground Incursion, would you say that the Israeli Forces are delaying the incursion in the hope that you can get more hostages being held by hamas out. Yeah, hi, thank you for having me, boris, im not going to talk about the hostages because it is extremely sensitive, and we all know this is what hamas tend to do, to abduct our women, children, babies and elderly and hold them against their will in gaza, sensitive and desperate to other parts of israel. What i can say is that the Ground Forces are ready, prepared, equipped and may i also say eager to maneuver into the gaza strip and take the fighting to hamas where theyre hiding underground. And as theyre hiding behind their civilians underground in their tunnels, were ready. And the raid that you saw yesterday, that we described it correctly, we are preparing the battlefield for future operations. I just want to let our viewers know, were looking at a live image of sderot where Nic Robertson was, another flare appeared to come up over the skyline. Were going to keep an eye on that there. Jonathan, i want to get to questions of strategy, our reporting indicates that the United States has advised the idf to focus attacks on the air strikes, the strikes that killed some of the architects of the october 7th attack, as well as precise operations raids inside gaza. Like those that were carried out last night. But is that going to be enough to eliminate hamas . Does the idf need to carry out a Ground Incursion in gaza . Right. So, lets talk about this. The cooperation between israel and the u. S. Is tremendous, of strategic importance, but israel enjoys full freedom of movement. This is an israeli war against an israeli enemy. And were going to defeat that enemy, of course, with u. S. Assistance when it comes to weapons and equipment. So, while we have very close ties, the directives that are given to the idf are those of the israeli cabinet. Full stop. Second thing, were looking at hamas and i dont want to confuse between what happened last night which was a raid, but it wasnt special forces. These were highquality Infantry Units but they were also in tanks. So this isnt special operations. And this isnt spelled in the depth of enemy terrain. This was an early, small tactical incursion into the gaza strip where we prepared the battlefield. Some friction with the enemy. We made them pay some in certain casualties. They fired at us, we retaliated fire. Then before morning came, we withdrew back into israel. That isnt, you know, how any Terrorist Organizations deepen. This is us preparing the battlefield for operations. An important distinction there youre making. I did want to get your thoughts in gaza for civilians. I spoke earlier with the Communications Director at the u. N. Agency providing aid in gaza, she reiterated theyre running out of fuel, that they urgently need it to keep people alive. I asked if there was any communication with hamas because the idf has essentially told that organization to ask hamas for the fuel. Because hamas according to the enemy has hundreds of thousands of liters of it. She said hamas has not given them anything. If they cant get the fuel that idf alleges that hamas has, seems likely that theyre not going to. What then happens to the 600,000 innocent civilians the u. N. Is helping . Yes. It is a horrible situation for these civilians to be in. And sigh fi feel for them, and wouldnt want to be in their place. However, they are the responsibility of the governing authority in gaza. And that is hamas. Full stop. Not our responsibility. And if hamas cannot find it within themselves to allocate fuel in order to keep hospitals running and to provide food and water for their very own population, then thats something that needs to be dealt with them. It is not our responsibility in any way, since there is fuel in the gaza strip. And it is in the hands of the entity that controls it. And it is their agency and prerogative, what to do with it. They should provide food, fuel, water, Everything Else to the people under their responsibility. And i think that, you know, the messaging of so many humanitarian organizations, which im sure are guided by the love of civilians and the want to do good. The messaging has been off from the beginning. Instead of saying, you know, back on the 16th of october, in 24 hours were going to run out of fuel which the World Health Organization said and tweeted. And now were ten days after, and they still have obviously food and fuel. And the whole line of messaging should be were humanitarian inside gaza, and we need the government of hamas to step up. Reprioritize civilians ahead of their military abilities. And provide food, water and fuel to civilians. Not try to blame israel, not to look at the world and cry wolf through the international community, and tell those who are responsible for the war and who have been governing the gaza strip for 20 years and thats hamas, nobody else. Counterclaim from those humanitarian organizations is that theyve been reduced to rationing those supplies. So they are running out and its getting precarious for them. Jonathan, quickly, before we go, i want to give them an opportunity if you have a message to that al jazeera journalist who lost 12 members of his family including his child. They evacuated to a refugee camp to the southern part of gaza that they thought would be safe. Do you have a message for that journalist . Yes, my message to anybody who is not a combatant and not part of hamas. You are not a target. The idf will not target you or your families. And if anything has happened that was caused by the idf, is regrettable. It the unfortunate circumstances that have brought this. We do not target civilians and that family died as a result of an idf strike which is something we have not yet established, but if that is the case, that is sad and regrettable and its definitely not something were trying to do. Jonathan conricus, we have to leave it there. Of course. Were expecting an update from the hospital in maine after the two Mass Shootings there. Were following that and the intense manhunt for the suspect believed to be responsible. Stay with us. Well be right back. All right. John berman here in lewiston, maine. And the breaking news is we just learned the coast guard is now involved in The Search For Mass Shooting suspect robert card. They are searching from the air and in the water. Remember, cards car was found near a boat launch, about ten minutes from where im standing which is one of the shooting sites. His car was found right next to the androscoggin river. The coast guard is involved. Residents here in lewiston advised to shelter in place in their homes and cars. Pastor littleton is here. Pastor, thank you for being with us, first, how are you and your family and congregation, how are you all doing tonight . Well, thank you for checking on us and having us on today. Our church family, our family is basically fine. Its obviously been tragic events, and indeed weve reached out to our congregants to help them through this struggle that theyre facing and their emotions and fear. And i do understand, i know your congregation is not far from where im standing which is the bar and that people were gathered at the church last night. What was going on . Well, last night, we our midweek bible study. There was probably about 65 of us there. And it was we heard several sirens. And stuff throughout the course of the hour that we were there. And at the conclusion of our service, we realized that theres some things going on that we needed to shelter in place. That was a very something im sure challenging time. I cant imagine you ever thought would happen. No, sir. Pastor, tell me about lewiston. Im from new england, loewiston is, i think, one of the hidden gems of maine. This working place. Yet beautiful place with really interesting people. Talk to me about the community. We have a great community. Its a strong community. Its a very diverse community. And it is, i do believe, it is a gem and the great thing about this community is that they are strong. They are resilient. And we will bind together. And get through this together. Right now, that means sheltering in place. Theres this shelter in place order for lewiston and for bowdoin and lisbon. Whats that like for you and the church, as everyone here is being told to secure your homes, secure your cars . Yeah. Thats its not a fun experience. And i think it brings a continued sense of apprehension in the lives of many people. For some, its an inconvenience to be, you know, stuck in your house again. But for others, this is, as this drags on, i have sensed a real apprehension in some peoples lives. And, you know, worried about what happens. You know, its okay now when its light, but in a few hours its going to be dark, and this man is still on the loose. Thats a good point. About 90 minutes left of light here. A lot of apprehension about what will happen when the nighttime does come. Pastor todd little. We appreciate you being with us. We are thinking about you. We are thinking about your congregation. Please stay safe tonight. Thank you so much. All right. Were following the breaking news how of lewiston, maine, 18 People Killed here in two separate shootings. A suspect on the run. The manhunt intensifying. Well be right back. You want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. With reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. Fellas, fellas. Thats how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. We wanted to give yall the necessary skills to compete with the future. Kevins now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. U. S. Defense officials releasing this video. Take a look. This is a chinese fighter jet coming within 10 feet of a u. S. B52 bomber that was flying over the south china sea. Cnns Natasha Bertrand is at the pentagon for us. What more are you hearing from officials on this. Reporter this was a close call and its something that u. S. Defense Officials Say is happening with increasingly regularity over the south china sea. In a statement, indopacific command, they said this particular jet was flying with uncontrolled excessive speed in front of and within 10 feet of the b52 bomber putting both aircraft in danger of collision. It was an extremely close call to put it in perspective, the u. S. Military considers intercepts like this to be dangerous within 50 or 100 feet of the u. S. Aircraft so 10 feet is close indeed. This comes on the heels of the u. S. Military. Saying this is frequent. The Chinese Military has increasingly intercepted u. S. Aircraft, over 180 incidents they have seen since 2022, and according to the senior official in charge he said it is a centralized and Concerted Campaign to perform the risky behaviors in order to coerce a change in lawful u. S. Activities. So the u. S. Saying the reason they do this is to try to intimidate the u. S. And get them out of this airspace. Clearly a concern because the risk of collision is high. Thank you for the reporting. Stay with cnn for all the e breaeaking news. The lead with jake tapper starts after a quick break. Stay with us