President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden travel to Maine to mourn with the Lewiston community after the mass shooting

LEWISTON, mania – President Joe Biden is traveling to Maine on Friday to mourn with the Lewiston community after 18 people were killed in the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.

Thirteen people were injured in shootings at a bar and bowling alley on October 25.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden will go there on Friday to pay their respects to the victims, meet with first responders and others and “mourn with families and community members,” the White House said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, this type of presidential trip has become too, too familiar. Way too familiar. Too often the president and first lady have traveled to communities completely torn apart by gun violence,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday .

Suspected shooter Robert Card, 40, was found dead in an apparent suicide after a days-long manhunt that led to officials canceling classes and ordering residents to stay home.

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Investigators have not yet determined a motive but have increasingly focused on the mental health of Card, a firearms instructor.

Authorities said this week that Card’s family brought their concerns about his deteriorating mental health to the local sheriff five months before the deadly rampage. Card had also undergone a mental health evaluation after he behaved erratically at a training facility last summer.

Several thousand people attended vigils for the victims over the weekend, and residents returned to work and school on Monday after the curfew was lifted.

MORE | One day after the mass murder suspect is found dead, Maine begins healing and searching for answers

Biden was informed of the shooting as he hosted a state dinner at the White House honoring the bond between the United States and Australia. He later left the event to speak by phone with Maine Governor Janet Mills and the state’s representatives in Congress.

In a written statement, the president condemned the “senseless and tragic” shooting and called on Republicans in Congress to help pass legislation that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, establish universal background checks, require safe gun storage and eliminate immunity from liability for weapons manufacturers.