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Consider This from NPR

A Mass Shooting in Maine and the Manhunt that Followed

Consider This from NPR

NPR

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Residents of Lewiston, Maine spent two days sheltering in place as authorities searched for the man suspected of fatally shooting 18 people and wounding 13 others.

Law enforcement has a playbook for capturing fugitives. But Maine's rural setting, the nearby international border with Canada and the suspect's military training all complicate the search.

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Kenneth Gray, who was a special agent with the FBI for 24 years, about what a search like this entails.

Note: This episode was recorded on Friday afternoon, shortly before authorities lifted the shelter-in-place order for Lewiston and the surrounding area.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

As we take this on Friday afternoon, it's been nearly 48 hours since a shooter opened

0:11.1

fire at a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.

0:13.6

And then after that, a bar nearby.

0:15.9

For two days, people living in the surrounding communities have been on lockdown, as police

0:20.2

hunt for the suspect.

0:21.2

I mean, there's nothing more frightening than the idea that someone is out there who's

0:24.6

already done a mass killing and still possesses weapons.

0:28.0

It's Congresswoman Shelley Pingri, a Democrat from Maine.

0:30.8

Her office is in Portland, and she says schools and businesses were shut down there too.

0:34.8

You couldn't buy a cup of coffee on Commercial Street in Portland yesterday, everything

0:38.5

was shut down.

0:39.5

There's just a really terrifying feeling.

0:41.7

Every minute that this goes on, we're more and more concerned, you know, because what's

0:47.0

the next thing that's going to happen?

0:48.9

And we understand that, and that's why we're working 24-7.

0:52.7

That's Maine's Commissioner of Public Safety, Mike Sawschuck.

0:55.4

He says that the same time officers are investigating crime scenes, they are scouring the area for

1:00.2

the suspected killer.

1:01.2

We're going to be all over the place.

1:03.2

That's not saying that we know that the individual is in this house, so we know the individuals

1:07.4

in that house are there in that swath of land.

1:10.3

But we do look at all these situations as if the individual could be in there.

...

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