Biden to visit Maine on Friday in aftermath of Lewiston shooting

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Maine on Friday in the wake of a massacre that left 18 people dead.

The president and first lady will visit Lewiston to pay their respects to the victims and grieve with families and community members, as well as meet with first responders, the White House said.

A gunman on Oct. 25 killed 18 people and injured more than a dozen others after opening fire at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston. A manhunt ensued, and the suspected gunman, Robert Card, was found dead two days later.

The massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States to date this year, and it is the deadliest since the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.

The Lewiston shooting prompted fresh calls from Biden and some Democrats for Congress to enact a ban on assault weapons to curb gun violence.

“Far too many Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence. That is not normal, and we cannot accept it,” Biden said in a statement the day after the Lewiston shooting.

Biden in September established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to focus specifically on the issue of mass shootings. The office’s deputy director, Greg Jackson, was in Maine this week to provide support to local officials and community members.