Maine shooting survivor on ventilator, needing surgery: Sister

(NewsNation) — Wednesday started out as a great day for 23-year-old Justin Karcher in Lewiston, Maine.

He and his girlfriend had just signed the contract on their first home together. To celebrate, they planned to go camping, but instead, Karcher’s best friend called him and said he was going to the local bar, Schemengees, with his dad.

Karcher went, and the night soon turned to tragedy.

Karcher was one of the first people shot when a gunman walked through the door, firing on the crowd. Karcher, his friend and his friend’s father were playing pool, and Karcher was shot four times.

He’s now fighting for his life on a ventilator, his sister Haley Breton told NewsNation.

“It’s been rough,” Breton said Friday on “CUOMO.”

Karcher is one of dozens of people who were shot Wednesday night in Lewiston, when 40-year-old Robert Card went to the bar and a local bowling alley armed with an assault-style firearm. A total of 18 people died, and the ensuing manhunt ended two days later when Card was found dead by police Friday night in the nearby town of Lisbon Falls.

“It was a lot of relief,” Breton said of hearing the news that Card was located.

Still, it left her somewhat disappointed.

“I was hoping for him to go to jail and face the reality and the trauma of it,” she said, “but at least he’s off the streets and there’s no more concerns and people don’t have to be scared, hide and everything else.”

Now, Breton is turning her focus to the recovery of her brother. She said doctors wanted to perform a surgery Friday to check his stomach and kidney, but were unable to do so.

“They did get him down there stable enough to open him up, but they weren’t able to do any type of surgery that they were hoping for just because he wasn’t stable enough (at that point) and they didn’t want to risk it,” Breton said. “So, he is now back in his room, they did get his blood pressure and ventilation and everything figured out, so he is alright at the moment.”