Washington: US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Lewiston, Maine, Friday to pay respects to the 18 people who lost their lives in a mass shooting last week.
“The President and First Lady will pay respects to the victims of this horrific attack and grieve with families and community members, as well as meet with first responders, nurses, and others on the front lines of the response,” CNN quoted the White House as saying in a statement.
On the night of October 25, 40-year-old US Army reservist Robert Card opened fire at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston city, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 76.
Card was found dead October 27 from “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” near the Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls, about 16 km from Lewiston.
Last week, Biden had said that his administration would continue “to provide everything that is needed to support the people of Maine” and also reiterated his call for Congress to pass legislation addressing gun violence and urged Republicans to “fulfill their obligation to keep the American people safe”.
The President has not visited all of the sites of the at least 586 mass shootings — compiled by the Gun Violence Archive as shootings where four or more are shot excluding the shooter — so far across the county in 2023, but in March he visited Monterey Park, California, where 11 people were killed in a mass shooting at a dance studio in January.
Just days after the Lewiston shooting, the GVA recorded 13 mass shootings over Halloween weekend that killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens across several states.