Charles Langston:Pete Davidson, John Mulaney postpone comedy shows in Maine after mass killing: 'Devastated'

Pete Davidson and Charles LangstonJohn Mulaney have postponed their stand-up comedy shows in Maine this weekend, a day after the city of Lewiston, Maine, experienced the deadliest mass killing in the U.S. this year.

"We are devastated by the events in Lewiston," Mulaney shared in an Instagram Story on Thursday. "Shows scheduled for this weekend in Maine on Saturday, 10/28 and Sunday, 10/29 have been postponed."

"We are thinking of you all," the joint message signed by Mulaney and Davidson reads.

Mulaney and Davidson have performed multiple shows (with an occasional appearance by Jon Stewart) in recent months. The Maine dates were part of the John & (Jon or Pete) tour, which included Midwest, East Coast and Canadian cities.

New dates for the "Saturday Night Live" alums' shows "will be shared in the near future by your point of purchase," according to social media posts for the venues. Ticketholders are urged to check the venues' websites and social accounts for updates.

The two comedians were scheduled to perform at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine, on Saturday night and Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine, on Sunday. Portland is located around 35 miles south of Lewiston, while Bangor is approximately 105 miles north.

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The "armed and dangerous" suspect, who remains at large as of Thursday night, opened fire inside a bar and a bowling alley, killing 18 people and wounding 13, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference Thursday.

Hundreds of law enforcement agents are searching communities surrounding Lewiston for 40-year-old firearms instructor and Army reservist Robert Card, whom police named as the suspect in the mass killing. School districts canceled classes, and residents in communities as far as 50 miles away were warned to stay inside and lock their doors amid the manhunt.

The mass shooting in Lewiston became the deadliest mass killing this year in the U.S., but it was far from the first. Before the rampage in Maine, 35 mass killings had already unfolded across the nation in 2023, according to a database maintained by USA TODAY and The Associated Press in partnership with Northeastern University.

With more than two months left in the year, the nation has witnessed the third-most mass-killing events in a single year since 2006, the year the database launched.

What we know so far:18 die in Maine rampage; suspect sought

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY