To ensure delivery to your inbox add email@mail.nbcnews.com to your contacts

Good Thursday afternoon. Lester Holt anchors tonight from Lewiston, Maine, covering the urgent manhunt for the gunman who killed at least 18 people. Also, Israel launched a “targeted” ground raid in Gaza, and there’s news on the suspect wanted in the killing of a Maryland judge.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Massive manhunt after 18 killed in Maine shooting rampage

Multiple communities in Maine are on lockdown as authorities urgently search for the man suspected of killing 18 people and wounding 13 others in a mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar Wednesday night in the city of Lewiston, officials said.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Robert Card, 40, on murder charges, and he is considered “armed and dangerous,” state police said at a news conference today. 

Read more about Card’s reported background as a firearms instructor, his military history, and purported struggles with mental health here.

Authorities have released multiple photos of the gunman appearing to be holding a military-style assault rifle. 

According to the timeline given by police, the gunman entered the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley just before 7 p.m. and opened fire, killing seven people. 

Minutes later and about four miles away at Schemengees Bar and Grill, he killed another eight people, police said. Three other victims were later pronounced dead at area hospitals. 

A vehicle that may have been driven by Card was found at a boat launch area in the nearby town of Lisbon, police said.

Lewiston, Lisbon, and the nearby community of Bowdoin, remain under orders to shelter in place, and a number of schools in the area are shut down today.

Hero died confronting Maine mass shooter, father says

Lester Holt is on the ground in Lewiston right now, talking to the members of the community devastated by Wednesday night’s shooting.

Leroy Walker’s son Joey, who worked at Schemengees, was among those killed in the massacre at the bar. State police told the family that Joey died a hero, after seizing a butcher’s knife and rushing the gunman, Walker said.

“He tried to go at the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else,” Walker told Holt. “The gunman shot him twice through the stomach.”

After waiting hours to hear from state police, Walker said that learning the details of his son’s death made his pain even worse.

Israel launches “targeted” ground raid into Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a “targeted raid” into northern Gaza using tanks overnight to prepare for “the next stages of combat,” ahead of an expected large-scale ground invasion.

The IDF shared video on social media appearing to show a bulldozer breaking through a barrier, then a column of tanks entering Gaza, followed by footage of explosions. 

“IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts,” the military said. “The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military is preparing for a ground invasion,but did not give any details on timing, in a televised address Wednesday. 

President Joe Biden on Wednesday reaffirmed Israel’s “responsibility to respond” after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, but as the military continues to pound Gaza with airstrikes, he called on Israel to do “everything in its power” to protect Palestinian civilians.

Suspect in fatal shooting of Maryland judge found dead

After a weeklong manhunt, the man wanted for the fatal shooting of a judge in the driveway of his Maryland home was found dead today, officials said.

Police had been searching for the fugitive, Pedro Argote, since the “targeted” shooting of Judge Andrew Wilkinson occurred on Oct. 19.

Just hours before the deadly encounter, the judge had given Argote’s estranged wife custody of their children during a divorce hearing.

Argote’s body was found in the woods in Williamsport, Maryland, about a mile away from where his vehicle was found Saturday, authorities said.

Hurricane Otis leaves at least 27 dead after slamming Mexico

At least 27 people are dead and four others missing after Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco Wednesday, as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit Mexico, officials said.

“What Acapulco suffered was really disastrous,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a news conference today.

In what the National Hurricane Center called a “nightmare scenario,” Otis explosively intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours, taking many in the resort city by surprise.

The hurricane unleashed heavy rain and powerful winds, triggering landslides and flooding streets. About 80 percent of Acapulco’s hotels were damaged, and officials are working on evacuating those who want to get out, the mayor said.

UAW reaches tentative agreement with Ford after six-week strike

The United Auto Workers union and Ford have agreed to a tentative deal that could end the nearly six-week strike against the automaker, sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed Wednesday to CNBC.

Spokesmen for the UAW and Ford have not commented on the tentative deal.

The latest proposal in talks this week involved wage increases of at least 25 percent over the term of the deal, as well as other improved benefits, two sources confirmed to CNBC.

Ford workers are already set to return to their jobs, as the UAW turns its focus to talks with the other two of the Big Three automakers, General Motors and Stellantis.

What else we're watching:

One person was killed, and another injured, in a shooting on Interstate 190 in Buffalo, authorities said.

Tornadoes were spotted in the San Antonio and Austin areas today, as severe storms rolled through Texas

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, pleaded guilty today to one count of falsely pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building, just as the House was about to vote on a measure to avoid a government shutdown last month.

A suspect has been arrested in the Oct. 2 murder of a Philadelphia journalist and activist, police said.

The first major winter storm of the season has dropped up to a foot of snow across parts of Montana.

The U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 4.9 percent annual pace in the third quarter, exceeding expectations.

People over 85 who receive the Covid shot at the same time as certain types of flu shots may be at a greater risk of stroke, according to a new FDA study. Doctors still recommend getting both shots.

Caught on camera: A bear attacked a security guard in the kitchen of a luxury hotel in Aspen, Colorado. The bear was found and euthanized, state wildlife officials said.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.

FOLLOW US

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY 10112

View in browser | Unsubscribe | Contact | Privacy