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Laura Coates Live

Suspect In Maine Mass Shootings Is Found Dead. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired October 27, 2023 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST AND BEHAVIORAL ANALYT: I can almost guarantee you he died two days ago within hours of committing of his crime because he was decompensating on a really terrible downward spiral. So, I think our takeaways are complete relief. Our hearts are with the victims' families, of course.

But the overall message here is that the signs were there. We are never going to stigmatize mental illness, but we have to look at the fact that this was a man who got care, was in a facility for two weeks this summer, and still was able to get and keep his guns. So, let's focus on what we can learn from this from a preventive standpoint.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Casey Jordan, thank you very much.

And that's it for me, and our special coverage does continue now with Laura Coates. She's up next, live.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Breaking news, a terrifying manhunt is now over, but there are so many questions that now remain, tonight on LAURA COATES LIVE.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

COATES: There has been now a stunning end to the manhunt in Maine. The suspect in the mass shooting that killed 18 people has now been found down dead in the woods near Lisbon, Maine with an apparent self- inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

A law enforcement source telling CNN's John Miller that Robert Card was found in an area near the recycling center from which he had been recently fired. Now, we have no idea how long he has been dead or what was found around his body. We don't know if he was found in an area that law enforcement had already searched and just missed it or he recently was found there anew.

Had he been on the run? Did he have any help evading police for so long? We have a lot of questions. But there will be a press conference again tomorrow that may shed additional light. There was a press conference tonight. We're going talk and unpack that as well with you here on the program. But two days after he went on a deadly shooting rampage at a bowling alley and also a nearby bar and grill, killing people ranging in age from just 14 years old to 76 years old, we still do not know why he went on this murderous rampage, and it's the deadliest mass shooting in this country this year.

And that question of why did he do it is going to haunt the people of Lewiston and really the country as they mourn those that they've lost and begin to put their lives back together and unite as a community. Maine's governor, Janet Mills, saying this just moments ago at the press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JANET MILLS (D-ME): Now is the time to heal. And with this search concluded, I know that law enforcement continues to fully investigate all the facts so we can bring what closure we can to the victims and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: I want to go right now to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz who is at Lewiston City Hall. Shimon, you have been following this story as you do from the very beginning. There was just a press conference. You were there with officials. What did we learn?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, so, here's what we know. Here's a little bit of a timeline. It was around 7:45 this evening when police made the discovery of the suspect's body. They confirmed that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was -- he was discovered while police were searching this area in Lisbon, and they found his body. And I want to note to you, Laura, that this is an area that we were at yesterday. We were out on the streets of Lisbon yesterday following the police doing their search. And around 3:00 yesterday, we saw them searching this area. Today, it appears that they went back there and during that search today, they found the body. That is all we really know. Police would not answer any other questions. I think the most important thing, obviously, to highlight here is that the fear that has been gripping so many of the communities across Maine is now over, and that is such an important part of this.

And I want to talk more about that with the mayor of Lewiston here who has been dealing with all of this and certainly for this community, just how difficult this has been. Can you talk about that?

MAYOR CARL SHELINE, LEWISTON, MAINE: Uh, yes. I mean, it's just an incredibly profound sense of relief. I'm incredibly grateful to Lewiston Police Department, Maine State Police, and all the federal agencies that worked tirelessly over the past couple of days to, um, to find the suspect.

PROKUPECZ: How -- how did you feel -- what was it like to get the news that the suspect here was dead?

SHELINE: This certainly brings a certain amount of closure. [23:05:00]

And now, the healing process can begin. You know, what happened this past Wednesday night was just, uh, you know, incredibly active senseless violence and, uh, you know, our hearts go out to, uh, the victims and their families. But one thing is clear, Lewiston is strong, we're resilient, and I had no doubt that we'd be okay.

PROKUPECZ: Vigils, getting these people together for a memorial, what's the next steps in that?

SHELINE: Uh, there are a number of vigils that are being planned, including one, uh, this Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Franco Center. Details are still coming together, but it is happening.

PROKUPECZ: How important will that be for this community, to get people together?

SHELINE: It will be extremely important to bring people together and to begin the grieving process and mourn together.

PROKUPECZ: Thank you, mayor. I appreciate you, and I appreciate all that you've done here.

SHELINE: Thank you.

PROKUPECZ: Thank you.

So, Laura, that's the important part here, is getting this community to start grieving. They've not been able to because they've been living with such a sense of fear. Things have been closed down all around them, from Lewiston to Lisbon where the suspect was found.

I just want to briefly note the impact that this has had on that community in Lisbon, and I think that's important. The people living there couldn't leave their homes. Everything around them is closed. There is one supermarket in that area where people shop at. And finally, today, the door is open and people were allowed to go in and buy stuff. And the lines in there were just incredible.

And I spoke to a woman there. She just started crying, just because of the fear that she has felt. And, you know, we take these things for granted, but the folks there were finally able to go in and buy food for themselves. It was an incredible moment.

And I think for so many of the people here and the families here and for the victims' families, how important this moment is, when I walked into City Hall today right before they started this press conference to see the officials here, hugging, sort of shaking hands, and just the relief that they felt knowing that this man was no longer a threat was really incredible to see, Laura.

COATES: Shimon, we can't forget. I mean, just the cruelty of the agony of all this, the terror that lasted more than just the minutes of the rampage but also extended to communities beyond that, you had all these different people and entities watching, you had children who were trying to come to terms, parents trying to explain all of this, the -- it is such a domino effect that we cannot lose sight of. Thank you so much for your reporting.

Brian Todd is at the recycling center on the grounds now where the -- near where the suspect's body was found. Brian, you've been following. What can you tell us about this location?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Laura, we are very near the scene where Robert Card's body was found. I will give you the lay of the land here. Police are still sealing off the scene. You see them here blocking this road. They are wearing tactical vest. They're actually carrying long rifles, sealing off this area where the suspect was found a short time ago.

Now, what I can tell you is that the recycling center where he worked, where he lost his job not long ago, is down this road and kind of to the right. It's down kind of in the darkness there to the right. And the wooded area is just to the right of that, that darkened area behind the Walgreens here.

I'm going to kind of shift over. We're going to -- photojournalist Jonathan Schaer will kind of shift over here. From what we know, the maps, and our teams here also reporting from this area yesterday when they were searching, that wooded area where he was found at 7.45 p.m. this evening is back here and kind of to the right behind the Walgreens that way. There's another police vehicle there, again, sealing off this area so that we can't get any closer to this, but we did.

Despite them giving very few details in that news conference of the discovery of the body, we do know a couple of details. What the state public safety commissioner did say was that his body was found in Lisbon Falls near the river, in a wooded area. So, we believe that is back that way. The boat launch where he dumped his car the other day after the shootings is also that way. There's a walking trail between that boat launch and this area.

Back here, again, back -- behind this Walgreens, there's a wooded area next to the recycling center where he worked, which is over here. The wooded area is over here. The river is just right there. We know that he was found near the banks of the river. According to the public safety commissioner, at 7.45 p.m., that there is a walking trail kind of between that area and the boat launch where he dumped his car.

So, you know, again, with very little detail to go on the discovery of the body, you can put a couple of things together. We heard Shimon talking about how his team was here when they were fanning out yesterday at midday at 3 p.m. And you can surmise from that that yesterday around 3:00 p.m., they had not yet discovered the body. That means roughly 28 hours between that time and the time of this -- that we know they discovered the body is when he took his own life.

[23:10:03]

So, it raises more questions. Was he here? Did he leave and then come back to this area sometime in that interim period between when our team saw them searching here yesterday and then when they discovered the body? Obviously, he must have returned here at some point.

How far did he go? You know, how far did he venture between those two periods? We don't know. But again, you know, you could kind of put a couple of details together of when they found his body, 7:45 p.m. tonight, and where they found it. Not far from the river in Lisbon Falls, in a wooded area, which means it is right back that way, probably a few 100 yards. Laura?

COATES: Brian Todd, what strikes me about this, of course, is in that interim period of time, imagine if people were frequenting that Walgreens or any of the areas around that area when he may have possibly been there, had there not been a lockdown, what could have happened? Even having one, the danger and proximity of the community as well.

TODD: Right.

COATES: There are a lot of questions. Brian Todd, thank you so much.

I want to bring in Charles Ramsey, who is the former Philadelphia Police commissioner and former Washington, D.C. police chief. Also here, senior justice correspondent Evan Perez. Let me just begin with you, Chief Ramsey, because, frankly, we all recall you have had a great deal of experience in pursuing manhunts. Most infamously, what has happened here in Washington, D.C. For example, the D.C. sniper cases and beyond.

There's tremendous relief in the community tonight, knowing that there has been the locating of this individual and that he is no longer alive. When you now have a chance to take a second and assess the police response, what do you see?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER, FORMER WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: Well, first of all, there's going to be a lot of information, hopefully, that comes out tomorrow. We didn't learn very much tonight other than --

COATES: Yeah. Why was that, Chief Ramsey, by the way? Why do you think that was?

RAMSEY: I don't know. I was disappointed. I thought we'd at least get some information although I know they wouldn't have a whole lot to begin with. But there are a lot of very serious unanswered questions. I mean, how long has he been dead --

COATES: Right.

RAMSEY: -- for example, you know. And if he took his own life, self- inflicted gunshot wound, did someone hear the shot? I mean, what drew him to that location? And there are just a lot of questions that really, I think, could have been answered, but they weren't. Hopefully, tomorrow, they will be.

Now, in an earlier press conference, they gave us some information around response times and things like that. Remember, this is a very small town, not very many police officers, nothing really happened. So, I imagine they didn't have very many cops deployed. But they still arrived at the scene, you know, pretty quickly when the calls came in around shots being fired in both the bowling alley as well as the pool hall. So, that part of it, we will learn a little bit more about.

But I'm more concerned right now about the search itself. Did they search that area previously? Where exactly was the body? Was it covered? You know, it was a very, you know, heavily forested area. But, you know, where exactly was the body? And again, if he shot himself, someone probably would have heard the shot, I would imagine, because you had a lot of people in that area. I mean --

COATES: Yeah.

RAMSEY: -- police officers and so forth. So, that's what I would like to focus on tomorrow, actually.

COATES: Evan, shall we turn to you on that? Because it wasn't that long ago that we were hearing about police descending on his last known address and saying things like, come out with your hands up, come out where we can see him. They at some point left that area behind and then pursued, I guess, other areas.

We didn't hear a lot of the why they're not telling the information. But you were one of the first people to even identify and break this story that he had, in fact, been found, and he had, in fact, been found dead. Why do you think there has been a relative level of tight limpidness (ph), if you can say, on this?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, look, to be candid, I think the police -- this trail had gone pretty cold.

COATES: Right.

PEREZ: I mean, that is pretty clear. That's one reason why you saw that response to the home, one of the residences that was associated with him. And it appears it was one reason why -- there was something detected, that there was either movement or that there was a heat signature inside or near the home that made them believe perhaps someone had come back to that residence. And so, they needed to know whether it was him. And you know, so there was a full -- I mean, there was a full response there.

COATES: It was.

PEREZ: And they did all of that. You saw that live on our air yesterday. It gives you a sense today, certainly, that today, there was a bit of a reset of like, okay, where do we go from here? And they did do a thorough search. They had dogs. They had everything at their -- at their -- at their disposal to do a search in that area.

[23:15:04]

Again, this is -- look, Maine is very, very sparsely populated. That area especially is very sparsely populated. There is a lot of places you can hide. But in the end, he didn't go very far, it appears. You know, you're just walking distance from that Walgreens. You're walking distance from that recycling center. Of course, a lot of these places were shut down over the last couple of days because of the shelter-in- place order. So, there might have been less foot traffic in that area.

But one of the things that I think, you know, Shimon and I were texting about this in the last couple of days, we didn't see -- it was almost like there was not the type of things that you see in a manhunt, right, where you see cops going, you know, door to door, you know, checking every garage and stuff.

And I don't know whether it's because these are small police departments and they don't have enough resources or not, but, you know, it just seemed like they just didn't know where to go and where to look. So, they were looking -- today, they were looking over by the boat launch where the car was found.

So, one of the things that I think we want to hear from the police tomorrow is, you know, what drew them to that area? Was -- did someone hear a gunshot? Did -- was there some other piece of information that they got? We do know from the police that the family had been extremely cooperative. They provided a lot of information which, at least, helped them understand his mindset.

And one of the big fears was, you know, could he show up somewhere and carry out additional shootings? That was one of the major fears that we heard from officials today. So, in the end, 7:45 is when they find his body. The question is, what drew them there? How long do they believe he has been there? The medical examiner is going to be able to at least identify how long the body -- you know, how long the person had been deceased by the time he was found.

COATES: A time of death or otherwise could be a part of all this. Charles, Chief Ramsey, let me get to you on this because when families and victims are learning about this, I suppose there's a range of emotion. One being that this person -- there's relief that this person is no longer a threat, but also the way that we think about justice in this country often entails somebody being apprehended, a criminal trial, a prosecution, and however you define justice after that.

When you have a suspect who is now dead, does the investigation just stop or will there be more research and investigation now into why he had this weapon, about the flagging with the mental health issues, will there be conversations about what was known about him or does this trail really truly now run cold at this point?

RAMSEY: No, the investigation will continue. There's no question about that. There's still a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up. They've got to complete the processing of the crime scene. They'll continue to investigate how he got his hands on those weapons, this whole issue around his mental health and being, you know, committed for a couple weeks and so forth. So, that's going to continue. I mean, you learn from all these cases.

And they'll be profiling him to try to figure out his motive and all these kinds of things because we're starting to see a pattern now with these serial killers, these mass killers, and he'll be a part of that. Unfortunately, that family of folks is growing.

But the one thing I do want to tip my hat to the department on and that is the fact that they notified the families before they gave it to the press or anyone else. That was absolutely the right thing to do. They've suffered enough and they should not get this information from the media. They should get it directly from the department. And so, I want to commend them for that.

So, there are a lot of questions that we still have but, at least, there's a sense of relief now, at least it should be, from all the residents of Maine, quite frankly, and all of us that watch this, because, I mean, you can kind of feel the tension yourself even though you're not there. You have something like this.

So, it's just one more tragedy. And the second part of the tragedy will be our Congress and other elected officials will do absolutely nothing once again as a result of this. So, that's just an unfortunate side of the story.

PEREZ: Let me add just really quick, Laura. I mean, I think the families deserve some answers, especially some of the things that you raised, right? The question of, you know, these red flags and the flags that people knew something was wrong with this man and, you know, how this managed -- how this happened, these are 18 people who have been killed needlessly, and how did that happen?

COATES: Such an important question.

[23:19:55]

I will say, at least one member of Congress in Maine, I think it is Congressman Golden, if I'm not mistaken, spoke about having a change of heart as it relates to his prior votes on issues surrounding assault weapon bans and the like, and has now spoken about being open to more conversations. We will see legislatively what might happen next. There is a new speaker in town. Charles Ramsey, Evan Perez, thank you so much.

We're going to be right back, everyone, with much more on our breaking news. The suspect in the mass shootings in Maine found dead tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: In the midst of this stunning news, really the stunning news from the entire week, the suspect in the Maine mass shootings has now been found dead. And we cannot lose sight of the victims in all of this. The 18 people that you see on that screen, they were killed in a matter of minutes, and each and every one of them mattered to someone. They were part of a family and they still are.

[23:24:56]

And among them, Bill Young and his 14-year-old son. Fourteen years old. Aaron, an honor student. They were bowling together when the suspect entered that building. Joining me now, Rob Young, Bill's brother and Aaron's uncle. Rob, thank you so much for being with me this evening. I cannot imagine what this week has been like for your family. I know you were extremely close to your brother and, of course, your nephew. And this is just unbelievable, that it has happened. And now that you know that this suspect has been found dead, what is your reaction?

ROB YOUNG, BROTHER AND NEPHEW KILLED IN MAINE SHOOTING: Well, first of all, I'd like to thank the hardworking men and women who have been searching for Robbie Card for, you know, three days now. Just thank you for finding him. It puts a closure for us as a family, in a sense where, you know, we don't have to worry about him hurting anyone else. And you know, kind of gives us a sense of, you know, justice. I mean, you know, he's not here anymore.

COATES: When you think about that word, "justice," and I often -- I turn that around in my head a lot, thinking about, as a former prosecutor, what it looks like to people, how you -- how you can help a community to heal. Oftentimes, it's through prosecution. But in a case like this, there won't be that. Do you feel as though your family has been denied some kind of justice by not being able to understand or hear from him as to why?

YOUNG: Now, I don't think you'd ever get a why. I don't think there is a why, on why you would just gun down innocent people, 14-year-old boy. I know when -- my family had no beef with Robbie Card. You know, we really don't know him. So there -- no why would ever bring my brother or my nephew back, you know.

We didn't want to sit through a trial. We didn't have to see all the gruesome details, you know. And sometimes, things are -- you know, with him being in a mental institution, you know, maybe, you know, he gets some insanity plea and never sees a day in jail. You just never know how it's all going to work. So, at least for our family, this is kind of the outcome we wanted.

COATES: Justice is always on the terms of those who are affected. I did notice you called him Robbie Card. Do you know him? Was that a name you've actually heard?

YOUNG: I actually graduated high school with his brother. Robbie was a grade below us. And according to one of my friends, my memory is not that great, we played baseball together as kids.

COATES: Oh, my God. Really?

YOUNG: Yes.

COATES: That must be adding a different layer of the horror of what you've had to experience and just thinking about having known or known of this person in this community of Lewiston. I want people to understand though, while there's been a focus tonight on finding this man, I want to focus on your brother, on your nephew, and those who lost their lives.

When you heard about this, you actually were near Baltimore. You didn't even know what happened to your brother. And you traveled hours to Maine just to get information at the Reunification Center. Can you tell us about that and what happened?

YOUNG: Yeah. We -- I flew up to Maine. My sister drove up from Massachusetts the night -- on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning and was at the Reunification Center, and really couldn't get any answers or anything. She was there for about four or five hours. She ended up leaving. I ordered the first flight I could get out of Baltimore into Portland, Maine. And I got here around into Winthrop area at about 10:30, and we still hadn't heard anything.

COATES: How long until you knew?

YOUNG: We found out -- the first thing we found out was around 1:00, maybe 1:30 yesterday afternoon, when state troopers came to the house.

COATES: And that's when you learned that your brother, who I know you're very close to and his son, who were quite inseparable, but they had lost their lives. I can't imagine what this has done to your family. He is survived by his wife and, of course, Aaron's mother as well. How is your family even coping with this?

YOUNG: We're still in shock. I mean, there's nothing you can do to prepare yourself for this. Cindy, Bill's wife and Aaron's mom, she has lost everything. You know, her son was her entire world, my brother was her best friend and soulmate, and they were both taken away. They said goodbye. He went to the bowling alley, and she never gets to see him again.

COATES: Rob Young, I'm so sorry to think of what this has done, and I am grateful that through you, we've heard and learned a little bit more about these lives, these precious lives that were lost.

[23:30:00]

And I'm just so heartbroken for you, and we will continue to think about you. I really truly appreciate you helping people to understand this moment. Thank you.

YOUNG: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

COATES: We have a lot more on our breaking news. This manhunt is over. The suspect in the main mass shootings found dead tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: I want you to look at your screen because these are the 18 people who lost their lives. The 18 victims in the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.

[23:35:00]

Eighteen of them. Every single one of them important, meant something to someone, loved, and a part of a family. All of their lives lost.

I want to bring in CNN's Omar Jimenez tonight. He is in Lewiston. Omar, it has been 48 hours of sheer terror in this town. We now know that the person who they were searching for was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. What are you hearing from the community about this all tonight?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for starters, that, in some ways, this still isn't over because for many of these people, they still have relatives in the hospital, they still have friends trying to recover in the hospital, they're still hoping to get good news that some of those conditions will improve.

Of course, it is welcome news that they can breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief that, one, the shelter-in-place orders are lifted. They may not have to look over their shoulders as much as they have over the last 48 hours, not knowing where this dangerous suspect could be, a suspect that police had said was armed and dangerous. And so, of course, that is a good thing.

But as we move forward here, while it's at least 18 that were killed here, there are countless other lives that touched those 18, that are changed forever. Those that survived recounted harrowing, awful tales of hiding while bullets flew near them or over them, and even for family members trying to process how to move forward.

One woman, Tammy Asselin, her cousin, Tricia Asselin, was killed in this shooting. Take a listen to what Tammy said a little bit earlier tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMMY ASSELIN, COUSIN TRICIA ASSELIN KILLED IN MAINE SHOOTING: Is this real? Is this -- am I essentially become a statistic? You know, I never thought that would ever be possible. I mean, nobody ever, obviously, in a situation like this thinks it's ever possible.

But when it happens, it's still -- I'm still processing it myself and still trying to get to a point that I can try to learn to accept that, yes, it is real, yes, it did happen. And it's going to take me some time because I go in and out of the emotions and thinking, no, it didn't really happen, it didn't really happen, and then I'm constantly reminded it did. So, yeah, it's difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Am I essentially becoming a statistic? It's something that I'm sure she never thought she would be saying. It's something that so many people, too many people across this country, have said at one point or another in the aftermath of shootings like this.

I was talking to one resident earlier today and he stressed to me, he wanted to make sure I understood as we talked about the folks that were killed, but also that were injured and still recovering, that these aren't just numbers, these are people with separate desires, wants, needs, everything in between.

And that feeling is what people here in the community are going to be wrestling with much beyond the 48 hours it took to find the suspect, Laura.

COATES: You know, Omar, I'm so glad that you played that particular clip because I tell you, when I watched that interview with Kaitlan, I kept focusing on the little girl next to her mother. I think she's 10 years old. And I'm reminded every day about that quote, I have children, a nine and a 10-year-old, and don't ever forget that someone is looking at you, learning how to be a human being.

Just thinking about what that looks like for a mother who is struggling with that, trying to come to terms and process, a little girl and an entire community are trying to make sense of all of this, all the time, and all at once. Omar Jimenez, thank you so much.

The suspect in the Maine mass shooting has been found dead tonight. I'll talk with a Lewiston, Maine city counselor right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: We are following the breaking news out of Maine. A 48-hour manhunt is over. The suspect in the mass shooting that killed 18 people, 18 people and injuring many others, has been found dead in the woods near Lisbon, Maine.

Joining me now, Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy. Councilman, thank you so much for joining us this evening. I mean, there must be a sigh of relief that the one, the lockdown is over, that the manhunt is over, but yet, the lives that have been impacted and lost here is still so raw. What's your reaction this evening?

ROBERT MCCARTHY, CITY COUNCILOR, LEWISTON, MAINE: Well, first off, I want to -- from all the citizens of Lewiston, thoughts and prayers go out to all of those that were touched by this, from the victims to the relatives and the family members and friends who have suffered from this catastrophic event. Our hearts are with them. And in the following days and weeks, we need to give them all the support that we can.

COATES: When you think about that support, and normally -- even using the word "normally" just now, you know, makes my stomach drop. But we have seen so many tragedies, mass shootings, killings where communities have come together, even through vigils, even through being able to see one another, to touch, to know that they are a part of a community. With the lockdown, with the ongoing manhunt, that wasn't able to happen immediately.

[23:45:05]

But there is still now a really big opportunity and a calling for healing to begin. How will that begin in your community?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think this evening, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and decompress. And in the morning, we will start the healing process. The city is organizing fundraising through local bank so that there's -- unfortunately, you have scammers out there that would take advantage of these situations.

So, we're setting up a fundraising for the families of those that have been touched by this. We're organizing denominational vigil hopefully for Sunday night. I know that it was said informally, the word was put out to put candles in your window tonight in remembrance. This was organized before we knew that Robert Card had been found and he was dead. So, it runs the gamut of everything. It's tough sometimes for people to reach out because they don't want to intrude on the families that are grieving.

So, it's a balancing act. But the city, through all of this, many businesses that were closed to the lockdown opened just to prepare food, to feed the hundreds and hundreds of law enforcement personnel that were here.

Poland Spring Water dropped a tractor trailer full of water, bottled water at the command post. And I can see -- Lewiston is a tight-knit community. We are second largest city in Maine, but we are a close- knit city, and everyone loves to help everybody.

COATES: May we do in real times what we do in tragedy. Lewiston City council, what you described and the thoughtfulness, thank you for sharing that with all of us today.

MCCARTHY: I just want people to know that this isn't the norm for Maine. Maine was -- on Monday was named the safest state in the country. And that this is just -- you just -- you just can't imagine this happening here. We average 22 murders a year and we had 18 in one -- in one -- less than half an hour. So, it's just surreal to everybody.

COATES: Those figures are stunning. And I can't imagine what your community has been through. But you will get through based on what you've said today. Thank you so much.

MCCARTHY: Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

COATES: Now, as the residents of Lewiston, Maine breathe a sigh of relief that the manhunt is over, how do they begin this process of healing? That conversation with our very own Shimon Prokupecz is next.

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[23:50:00]

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COATES: Our breaking news tonight, the suspect in the mass shooting in Maine is dead, found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Let's not forget that there were 18 innocent people that died in a shooting rampage at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, and there are others still injured as well.

It is the deadliest mass shooting in this country this year, and it has left yet another community grieving.

I want to bring back CNN's Shimon Prokupecz who has been on the ground closely following this story. And unfortunately, it's just the latest mass shooting that he has had to report on.

And Shimon, I just want to take a step back for a moment. You've covered so many, including the Brooklyn subway shooting, the Pulse nightclub shooting, what happened in Uvalde as well, and the tragedy happening in Maine is affecting families all across this country who now are part of a larger community. What do you feel in these communities when the cameras start to leave?

PROKUPECZ: That's the big thing. That's when the real stories can be told because that's when the real grieving starts. When these families are all alone, no one is knocking on their door to ask them how they're doing, how they're feeling, what's going on in their lives.

When the reporters leave, when the politicians are not paying attention to them anymore, that's when the grieving begins because they're just alone with their thoughts and missing their loved ones.

You know, I covered Uvalde, as you know and as our viewers know. You certainly saw that there. And also, Uvalde, it was just this desperation for answers and families are looking for answers. That's going to happen here. They're going to want answers. They want to know -- they are going to want to know how did this happen, why did this happen, how is this man allowed to have this weapon, why didn't anyone stop him when they knew that he was having all these issues.

And so, when we leave, and when the politicians are not paying attention anymore, that's when these families really start to feel the pain and that loneliness of missing their loved ones.

COATES: It is -- it cannot be stated enough that this will be a process. And you have been there.

[23:54:59]

You have shared some of the most intimate moments with these families who begin as strangers, and within minutes, they realize that there is an unbreakable bond of just the experience itself.

Shimon, the answer is that we'll be sought. There's a press conference tomorrow. There'll be many other opportunities to ask the questions, to figure out how this happened, and more importantly, perhaps how never to have it happen again. Do those investigations continue?

PROKUPECZ: Yeah, look, there's a lot more to learn here. And hopefully, we'll get those answers tomorrow. And you speak about this community, the mass shooting community, right? The victims, parents, siblings, husbands, wives, now have bonds with so many communities all across the country, with thousands of people. And no doubt, they will all be speaking with each other, talking to each other to try to get through this very, very painful and difficult time.

COATES: Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for shining the light that we need to get the information.

Thank you all so much for watching. Our live coverage continues right after this.

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