Live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. A Mass Murderer is on the loose in maine today. One officers say has military training, a proficiency in weapons, and multiple ways to evade police. That Reality Compounding the fear and grief for locals trying to process the 565th Mass Shooting in the u. S. This year. In this case, 18 dead, 13 more wounded, and the Peaceful Community of lewiston changed forever. This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security. No city does. No state, no people. So now as Law Enforcement is in a fullscale search to track down the suspect, robert card, they are also trying to piece together the details of who he is and why he may have done this. Plus, with word that he had been committed to a Mental Hospital earlier this year, a critical question, why did he have a gun and not just any gun, but an assaultstyle rifle in the first place . We start right there in southern maine, a state and community largely spared the pain, trauma, the fear of Mass Shootings until now. Right now hundreds of police are on the hunt for 40yearold Army Reservist robert card. He is the man suspected of opening fire inside a Bowling Alley and a bar In The City Of Lewiston Last Night Shooting Into Crowds of people who were just trying to unwind after a wednesday at work or school. As we said, 18 people just confirmed earlier today killed, only eight of those have been identified. 13 others were injured. The attack is the deadliest in the u. S. This year. The worst mass killing in maines history. All the more staggering when you consider the entire state only saw 29 homicides in all of last year. So now a manhunt is in full swing. The fbi, atf, Maine State Police all involved, even as roughly 50,000 People Living in that area are being told to shelter in place. Police are asking for the publics help, but also warn they should be extremely careful. 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. I want to bring in nbcs Antonia Hylton who is in lewiston, also with me, tom winter and former fbi specialist and National Security analyst clint watts. And i know you have some new information, tom, on the firearm that was used but what else are you learning from Law Enforcement right now . I think dps making it clear they dont know where this individual is at this point. They are tracking down a number of leads. They have gone over all sorts of details abouthis persons background, specificay locations and so theyre kind of ticking things off in a kind of a methodical manner at this point. To your point, some information about the gun that weve just been able to confirm with my colleague jonathan dienst e, the weapon was purchased legally earlier this year and all indication it was before that Mental Health incident that you referenced here just a few seconds ago. Theres no indication at this point, though, i really caution that these type of reviews take time, theres no indication that there was a law or a step that was missed as it stands on the books in maine that would have prohibited this individual from possessing this weapon at the time of the shooting yesterday. So we have two things going on. One reviewing the past, trying to determine through our own reporting, through what investigators are doing and talking to them, trying to determine whether or not this individual should have had the gun. It was certainly purchased legally. Thats column one. Column two is this ongoing manhunt with this flood of officers, not just from maine, state troopers, but also all the resources of various state Police Departments all across new england and a huge fbi presence. They have three offices in maine, small, Satellite Offices out of the main fbi boston field office, and theyve got an awful lot of people up there, including the person that leads that office. So i think at this point theyre doing everything they can from a Resource Standpoint to try to find this individual, but youve been to maine. Ive been to maine. It is a rural place, this person likely has significant knowledge of the area, and so i think its going to make it difficult if this individual is still alive. So clint, lets talk about this manhunt because tom is absolutely right. Youre talking about a state that is so big the rest of new england could fit into it, but as the governor said earlier today, its what 1. 3 million People Living in that space, its heavily wooded in many parts of it. Let us not forget that his car was found at a boat launch, so i said at the top of the show, theres a fullon manhunt in maine. If he is in maine, how tough could it be to find him . Chris, we just have no idea. I think when you look at this situation, you could think back to pennsylvania, just a couple of months ago we had a manhunt, and we saw where they used every resource and capability that was available. That was thousands of personnel in total. That was every kind of federal asset. You might remember they started using things like heat sensors to try and pick up on traces of individuals, and that took a couple of weeks. You can imagine here where you dont have a tremendous amount of personnel. You dont have tons of technology in place. While its arriving, they still need to get organized, and then every minute from the time of that attack until now, we just dont know, was that person on foot . Was that person in a vehicle . Have they switched vehicles multiple times, or did they even take some other mode of transportation were not aware of. Theres lots of tips and leads that will be needed to sort this out, but remember, in virginia, in pennsylvania, and some of these other incidents we had theres lots of amazon cameras, you know, showed up in the last one, household Security Systems provided tips and leads. Youre not going to have that in this situation, its a heavily wooded very rural area. It will be a big challenge. Its going to require a lot of Law Enforcement, a lot of security, and its also going to take a lot of air assets and technology to try and do this detection. The most important thing is the public can provide tips and leads, which can put people very narrowly onto the trail of this individual. Yeah, antonia, we did hear that at the Press Conference, and its very familiar that police will ask folks, if you know anything please give us a call, although for the reasons clint laid out, it could be particularly important here. Take us inside that community. Still on lockdown and how people are coping with this. Reporter it is eerie. It is heartbreaking here, chris. I actually you know, that example that clint walked through of pennsylvania, i think, represents kind of the worstcase scenario for many of the people. Ive been messaging for some residents today. Its a combination of shock and grief, people who have lost cousins and friends who have, you know, loved ones who have been injured, but then knowing that this person is very much out there and its not just anyone. Its someone who is, according to authorities, highly trained in the use of firearms. It was an instructor and so is going to very much know what they are doing with whatever weaponry they may have on them. That adds sort of to a feeling of psychological terror here, right . That behind me here, you probably cant see it right now, but there have been Police Officers all day here in front of the Medical Center where people have been treated or overnight there were efforts to save many lives here, and they have long guns, out and very prominent, and they say that authorities are going to continue to do that so long as this shelter in place is in order, so long as a card is out there, and so its just adding to all of this uncertainty on top of the loss and the heartbreak. Take a listen, for example, to one father, the father of the man who managed the bar where much of this took place last night. The clip youre about to hear is him describing his belief that his son has passed away, but he very recently learned from authorities that his son did. Take a listen. If you had my gut right now, i feel like im squashed with a vice. My neck and the back of my head feels like theres a Vice Squashing it the other way. My son is dead and i know hes dead. I know it as well as i know im standing here telling you because hes not here, and hes not at any of the hospitals. Reporter and you have to keep in mind here, chris, you know, this is a relatively small community. Youve just described how sparse it can be. People know everyone here. These are their regular hangout spots. They have deep connections in this community, and so, you know, every Single Person who you see describing the anxiety of waiting for confirmation or the knowledge of a lost loved one, you know, theyre deeply connected to folks, and so, you know, the feeling here and the anticipation is incredibly difficult, and i know that people are in particular right now waiting for more information from authorities about the profile of the victims. Theyve been very careful about what theyve released, for example, we know its a mix of men and women. They wont comment on how many minors, although theres been speculation in the community because at the Bowling Alley there was a Youth Gathering Last Night that minors may very well be among the victims, and so theres a lot of desire to get that clarity, but of course also see robert card apprehended. Thats really the primary thing that could bring not this nightmare to an end really, but to at least give people some closure and some sense of safety in their surroundings, chris. Yeah, the grief is on top of the anxiety. So clint, lets talk about this suspect, and it does also have a parallel to pennsylvania, which you mentioned. Does the protocol for Law Enforcement change when theyre searching for a person with not just military and weapons training but somebody who taught use of weapons. I mean, this guy is somebody who presumably is very skilled. Chris, theyre always going to go in prepared for the worstcase scenario, but in this case, you know its the worstcase scenario. Meaning that its just different when you have somebody wos got markanip training, who knows how to use aps, who knows how to reload. You can see this froth pictures and when youre looking athi for Law Enforcement, an average Law Enforcement officer wears a bullet proof vest. Its really only there to protect against handguns, 9 millimeter rounds in particular. It travels at remarkable speed. It is designed to kill. You can imagine in a situation where the individuals in the woods, could set up an ambush, for example, when they have Law Enforcement moving or using different techniques to track them down. The standoff there is quite remarkable. This is how its wildly different from pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, that individual had no weapons, was scrambling around trying to find just basic sustenance of food and clothing. Was tripping ring cameras, you know, at peoples house, their security cameras. This all gave tips and leads and couldnt move too far. This individual has the advantage of time and speed, was able to move, has marksmanship training, maybe has some army training, and we dont know what his Rereational Lifestyle was, maybe was a fisher or hunter, may have outdoor skills. All those are advantages that are really tough, particularly for Law Enforcement moving in from other jurisdictions. Federal and State Resources will descend in, but even from places as far away as boston, thats a different kind of landscape there. For Law Enforcement officers, this is going to be a tough challenge. It really kind of reminds me of the you might remember the eric rudolph situation, North Carolina after the olympic bombing. Very similar there where you had somebody on the loose for many, many years who knew how to survive on the land and was also a former u. S. Soldier who knew how to use weapons and knew tactically what to do. Yeah, and though, tom, we obviously can see his face there, he didnt make any effort to disguise who he is. You have to wonder if hes already changed his appearance. He has facial hair, he could have shaved. There are many ways in which he pretty quickly and easily might be able to change the way he looks. Without a doubt. He clearly knows this community, he has ties to this community, which can be a help for Law Enforcement, and you might know places he would want to go to. On the other hand, it might be a hindrance because this individual knows the area presumably better than most. So thats a bit of a question there and examining all of this, i think youre looking in an investigation, and i keep saying if he is alive because we do know of a number of Mass Shooting incidents in this country where the person who did it, in fact, ended up taking their own life. So i think when you look at this, we have to keep that in mind as a possibility. We have to keep in mind that it is not a normal october week in maine from a weather standpoint, so its much warmer than it normally is. That increases survivability. Its not a situation i would want to be in, and of course as weve been talking about this weapon and clint talked to us about the power of it, youre going up against somebody whos armed the same way that you are. This is not somebody with just a shot gun or a handgun. And frankly, may be better at it. I hate to put it that way. Certainly skilled, certainly skilled, right . Certainly skilled. It is definitely a significant challenge. I think thats the reason why youre seeing such an outpouring of additional Law Enforcement support from across new england here that there is a real belief and understanding that this person needs to be met, when they are finally met, with significant numbers and significant tools and resources to make sure that this doesnt get out of hand and to try to avoid to the best of anybodys ability, any future loss of life. Tom winter, Antonia Hylton, clint watts, thank you all. Many residents of maine will tell you this is a state with a strong gun culture, but its Homicide Rate is consistently one of the lowest in the country. Until last night, the states deadliest Mass Shooting ever took four lives and that was almost ten years ago. In other words, for nearly everyone in maine, this kind of terror and trauma is brand new. Everybody knows everybody. Its a Peaceful Community, like the worst thing that you were afraid of happening is a jaywalker. It doesnt happen in maine. It doesnt happen here. Im going to start locking my doors at night. I never lock my doors. I leave them wide open. Now im going to get a ring cam. Scary. Kevin miller is a reporter at maine public radio. Marie weed meyer is a crime reporter. Kevin, this is all unfolding even as we speak. What are people telling you, whether its your speaking with . Well, its just a massive manhunt that were seeing. This is a manhunt thats pretty much unprecedented in size in maine. 350 Law Enforcement officers from maine, from federal agencies, in some other states, so to have Something Like this happening in maine as some of your previous have said, a small state, a very closeknit state, almost like a big neighborhood. Its shocking. I think people are scared. People are worried and right now a large part of our state is actually some businesses and schools are closed down. Even in areas that are far from lewiston, so its kind of causing shock waves all around the state. Marie, we were just talking about this, and if you can pick up on it. I know you spent a lot of time talking to Law Enforcement there. The unique challenges that they are facing when youre dealing with a state so large, with relatively few people. This gunman could literally be anywhere, right . Yes, and thats i think why a lot of people are so scared. You are seeing schools shut down an hour, hour and a half, two hours away from where lewiston started or if theyre not shut down, they have armed police present outside the schools, so theres just a lot of fear, and its spreading really statewide because as you said, we dont know where he is. And kevin, you heard that woman say this kind of thing just doesnt happen in maine. She never locked her doors. Shes going to start locking them. Shes going to get a ring cam. Can you even just describe the emotional Roller Coaster that people youre talking to are going through. The idea that youre in your own home, but youre living in fear. Yeah, and again, this is a state that has a very low Homicide Rate. We do have when you factor in suicides here in maine, because there are so many guns, we do have a higher Gun Violence Rate than other states