US News: Maine Shooting Witness Recounts Hiding from Gunman inside Bowling Alley Machine

A man has described the moment he ran down the lane of a bowling alley and “climbed up into the machine” to hide after a gunman entered the building and opened fire.

The witness, who only gave his first name as Brandon, has spoken about the ordeal as police in the US state of Maine continue to hunt a man suspected of shooting dead between 15 and 20 people.

Robert Card, 40, is a trained firearms instructor who is believed to be in the US Army Reserves, according to a bulletin put out by the Maine Information and Analysis Center, a database for law enforcement officials.

It adds that law enforcement said Card “recently reported mental health issues to include hearing voices and threats to shoot up the National Guard Base in Saco, Maine”.

Police hunt Maine gunman – follow live updates

Brandon said at one stage the gunman was around 15 feet behind him, adding: “He was close, very close.”

He continued: “I’m night bowling and out of nowhere he came in and there was a loud pop. I thought it was a balloon, I had my back turned to the door.

“As soon as I turned and saw that it was not a balloon, that he was holding a weapon, I just bucked it down the lane where I slid basically into where the pins are and climbed up into the machine.

“I was on top of the machine for about 10 minutes until the cops got there.”

Brandon added that there was a “lot of ruckus” when he got to the top of the bowling machine.

“I was putting on my bowling shoes when it started. I’ve been barefoot for five hours,” he added.

Read more:
What we know about suspect so far

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.