LEWISTON, Maine (NewsNation) — Residents in Lewiston, Maine, are shocked and grieving after a gunman killed at least 18 people and injured 13 others in two separate shootings Wednesday night.
Billie-Jayne Cooke, who is running for the city council, was at a public event at Bates College when she noticed a surge of emergency vehicles heading through town. It wasn't until Cooke left campus that she realized something serious had happened nearby.
"The entire trip home was just solid sirens, flashing lights, helicopters, and for the next three hours, that's all you heard anywhere in the city of Lewiston," Cooke told NewsNation's Natasha Zouves on Thursday.
As of Thursday evening, police are still searching for 40-year-old suspect Robert Card, the man authorities believe opened fire at a bowling alley and then a nearby bar.
The deadly rampage has stunned the tight-knit community of 37,000, which has been ranked among the safest cities in America.
Cooke said her son had recently been at the bowling alley where the shooting began and feels like the latest incident shows attacks can happen anywhere now.
"You go to a grocery store, you get shot; you go to a movie theater, you get shot; you go to school, you get shot; you go to a bowling alley, you get shot," she said. "We're completely desensitized to it as Americans."
Authorities are still working to identify the 18 victims killed by the gunman. Their names have not been publicly released.
"Until they catch this guy, until we actually get a list of names, it's still not necessarily real because it's so shocking," Cooke said. "It's going to be a painful time for a long time."
Watch the full interview in the player above.