Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck speaks during a press conference at Lewiston City Hall in Lewiston, Maine, under a picture of suspect Robert Card on October 27, 2023

Lewiston (United States) (AFP) - The suspect in a mass shooting in the US state of Maine has been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, US media reported Friday, after an intense manhunt that lasted more than two days.

Confirmed details were not immediately known, but authorities in Maine called a news conference for 10 pm (0200 GMT).

CNN reported that the body of Robert Card, 40, the subject of a massive manhunt following a rampage two days earlier that left 18 people dead, was found in woods about eight miles from Lewiston.

The network said Card’s body was discovered near a recycling center, from which he had recently been fired.

CNN and ABC cited sources saying Card had been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Card is accused of carrying out the country’s deadliest mass shooting of the year on Wednesday night. In addition to the fatalities, another 13 people were wounded in the bloodshed.

Authorities on Friday identified the victims, ranging from a husband and wife in their 70s, to a 14-year-old boy killed alongside his father.

The shooting – and Card’s fugitive status – brought dread to this hard-scrabble city in southern Maine.

Earlier Friday, authorities said they were chasing down more than 530 tips and leads on Card’s possible whereabouts.

Card is an army reservist, but had not been deployed in any combat zone. US media reported that he had recently been sent for psychiatric treatment after he said he was hearing voices.

This latest shooting is one of the deadliest in the United States since 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people.

Earlier Friday, law enforcement agents deployed along the Androscoggin River in nearby Lisbon, seven miles (11 km) southeast of Lewiston, and divers used sonar to look for evidence – or a body.

Card’s white SUV was found nearby, Maine public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck said.

Hours before the break in the case, Sauschuck announced the lifting of a lockdown in the area around Lewiston that had shuttered schools and businesses.