The man suspected of the murdering nearly two dozen people in Maine on Wednesday night is a trained firearms experts in the U.S. Army Reserves, according to a state police bulletin.
The bulletin was released after 18 people were reportedly killed more than a dozen were injured in shootings at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, previously known as Sparetime Recreation, and Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant in Lewiston, Maine.
The Associated Press noted that the bulletin said that the suspect was “a trained firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, ME.”
“According to law enforcement, [the suspect] recently reported mental health issues to include hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco, ME,” the bulletin said. “[The suspect] was also reported to have been committed to mental health facility for two weeks during summer 2023 and subsequently released.”
The fact that the suspect was committed to a mental health facility for a period of weeks indicates that it was an involuntary commitment, which means that he would have been banned from owning or possessing firearms.
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The ATF states: “Any person who has been ‘adjudicated as a mental defective’ or ‘committed to a mental institution’ is prohibited under Federal law from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing any firearm or ammunition.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have joined the search, assisting local and state police leading the investigation.
The Daily Wire has a policy of not naming mass shooters to deprive them of undeserved notoriety but will temporarily provide names and images of suspects on the run or persons of interest to assist law enforcement in their apprehension.
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