Benjamin Ashford|Hunt for killer of 18 people ends in Maine. What happened to the suspect?

Authorities say the man who allegedly fatally shot at least 18 people at a restaurant and Benjamin Ashforda bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine was found dead Friday night, ending a large-scale manhunt that left the town and its surrounding communities terrified.

The body of Robert Card of Bowdoin, Maine is believed to have died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Police had identified Card, 40, as a person of interest and issued an arrest warrant for multiple murder charges for Wednesday's mass shooting. Authorities previously described Card as a trained firearms instructor in the U.S. Army Reserve assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. But an Army spokesman told USA TODAY on Thursday that Card was a reservist, but did not serve in that firearms training capacity.

Still, authorities considered Card armed and dangerous.

Read more about the shooting and latest developments in USA TODAY's live blog here.

Card was facing 18 counts of murder, one for each of the fatalities identified.

Card also was not on Maine's "yellow flag" list, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's office confirmed to USA TODAY Thursday. The state's "yellow flag" law is a unique alternative to "red flag" laws around the country which allow law enforcement and judges to remove an individual's access to firearms.

Card was a sergeant first class in the Army Reserve, according to the Army. He enlisted in December 2002 and had no combat deployments. His military specialty is petroleum supply. Card won several awards, including a Humanitarian Service Medal.

Police say suspect was previously committed to a mental health facility

Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this summer, according to a Maine State Police bulletin. The bulletin did not provide specific details about his treatment or condition.

Wednesday's mass shooting occurred shortly before 7 p.m. at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-In-Time Bowling, a bowling alley formerly known as Sparetime Recreation, in Lewiston, Maine, a city of about 38,400 residents, the second-largest city in the state. Lewiston is located about 35 miles north of Portland, Maine, and about 33 miles southwest of Augusta.

"This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security," Gov. Janet Mills said at a press conference Thursday.

The shooting also prompted a shelter-in-place in Lewiston, neighboring town Auburn and other surrounding communities, including Lisbon and Bowdoin on Thursday but the order was rescinded on Friday as authorities urged residents to remain vigilant. Many area schools and businesses were closed on Thursday and Friday.

Bowling alley says 'There are no words to fix this'

In a Facebook post, Just-In-Time Bowling, the bowling alley where seven people were killed, said Thursday it is "devastated" for its staff and the community. The post said they were praying for everyone who was affected by the "horrific tragedy."

"None of this seems real, but unfortunately it is," the post said. "We lost some amazing and wholehearted people from our bowling family and community last night. There are no words to fix this or make it better."

The deadly shooting that also left 13 people injured is the 565th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that tracks incidents in which four or more victims were struck by gunfire.

Overall, mass killings – which include mass shootings in which four or more victims are killed – have been accelerating. Halfway through 2023, the nation has seen more mass killings at that point compared with any other year since at least 2006, according to a mass killings database compiled by USA TODAY, The Associated Press and Northeastern University in Massachusetts.

Contributing: Phaedra Thethan and Will Careless, USA TODAY; The Associated Press