Shocked and fearful Maine residents are keeping to their homes for a second night as hundreds of police and FBI agents search intently for Robert Card, a U.S. Army reservist authorities say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar. Wednesday’s attack in Lewiston was the worst mass killing in state history. On Thursday, heavily armed police surrounded a home in rural Bowdoin as they searched for Card but left hours later after searching the residence. Three of the wounded remain in critical condition. Meanwhile, schools and businesses are closed and people sheltered in their homes in communities as far as 50 miles away from Lewiston.

The latest mass killing in the United States happened Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine. A man opened fire at a bowling alley and a restaurant, killing at least 18 people and injuring at least 13. A 40-year-old man has been identified as a person of interest. He is a firearms instructor trained by the military and was recently committed to a mental health facility. Police were still searching for him Thursday. The shooting was the country’s 36th mass killing this year. So far this year, the nation has witnessed the second-highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. Only 2019 had more mass killings.

Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to reinstate a gag order on Donald Trump. They’re citing recent comments by the former president about his ex-chief of staff that they say represented an attempt to influence and intimidate a foreseeable witness. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan last week temporarily lifted her order barring Trump from making inflammatory comments about prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses. In a motion Wednesday, special counsel Jack Smith’s team encouraged Chutkan to put the restrictions back in place. Prosecutors cited in part statements by Trump about his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. ABC News reported Tuesday that Meadows has testified before a grand jury after receiving immunity from prosecution.

Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight. The military said troops struck several militant targets in Thursday’s raid in order to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a widely expected ground invasion. The raid came after the U.N. warned it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the besieged territory. Hospitals in Gaza are struggling to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. The war, sparked by Hamas’ bloody incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, is already the deadliest of five fought between Israel and Hamas in the last 15 years.

Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups say they’ve seen large increases in reports of harassment against members of their communities since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Many reports have involved violence or threats against protesters at rallies in support of Israel or in support of Palestinians over the last two weeks. Other reported attacks and harassment have been directed at random Muslim or Jewish people in public. A spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations says the organization has received 774 reports of bias-related acts since Oct. 7. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism reports that at least 312 antisemitic acts were recorded between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23

Forest in California may be disappearing. Scientists say repeated fires, drought and beetle infestations are altering the Sierra Nevada. Despite relatively mild wildfire seasons this year and last, California has seen 12 of its largest 20 wildfires — including the top eight — in the previous five years. Efforts are underway by the state and federal government to cut down smaller trees and set fires under ideal conditions to clear out undergrowth. But some environmentalists are poised to challenge projects they say are really logging plans.