Robert Card, Bowdoin, Maine man id as Lewiston shooting suspect that killed 18 and injured 13. Gunman id as US army firearms instructor released from mental facility after reporting hallucinations. Weapons were never taken away.
A firearms instructor in the US Army reserve who was recently discharged from a mental health facility after reporting hallucinations has been identified as the alleged gunman who went on a mass shooting spree at three different locations in Lewiston, Maine, killing at least 22 and injuring up to 60 others, Wednesday night.
Robert Card, 42, of Bowdoin, Maine is alleged to have gunned down his victims with an AR15-style rifle, the typical high velocity assault weapon used in previous copious mass shootings that continue to plague the United States. To date the man had yet to be taken into custody and was being sought by police.
Maine officials identified the 3 shooting locations as: Sparetime bowling alley; Schemengee’s bar and grill; and a Walmart distribution center. With the first shooting occurring just on 7pm. Authorities warned locals to stay indoors as they feared the gunman enacting further attacks.
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⚡️In the American city of Lewiston, at least 22 people died and up to 60 were injured as a result of shooting, — NBC.
According to preliminary information, the shooter came out with an automatic rifle and opened fire on residents in a bar, a bowling alley and a supermarket.
The… pic.twitter.com/wUvthTukbo
— FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) October 26, 2023
BREAKING: Suspect in Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting identified as Robert Card, a firearms instructor in the US Army reserve who was recently discharged from a mental health facility after reporting hallucinations. pic.twitter.com/ACmYdb0kBX
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) October 26, 2023
‘Please stay inside your home with the doors locked.’
A photo issued by sheriffs showed a white man with an AR-15-style rifle and a laser optic entering the Sparetime recreation center, wearing black combat trousers and a brown top. His face is clearly visible. The neighboring city of Auburn has also been placed on lockdown.
Police located the white Subaru Outback that Card was believed to be driving in the town of Lisbon, but had yet to locate the suspect. A shelter-in-place order was ordered for the town.
‘There is an active shooter situation in the city of Lewiston,’ said Maine state police.
‘Law enforcement is asking people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked.’
Police audio said the two locations were Schemengee’s bar and grill, and Sparetime recreation center. The two sites are around four miles apart, in Maine’s second-largest city.
Police were then called to a third location, a Walmart distribution center, said Derrick St. Laurent, a Lewiston spokesman.
St. Laurent told the Sun Journal that the first call, to Sparetime, came at around 7:16pm.
Police were then called to Schemengee’s, and after that, at about 8:15pm, the Walmart site.
Mental health woes
Robert Card, had been trained as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility in Maine. A police intelligence bulletin stated Card was previously committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide specific details about his treatment or condition.
The bulleton also said Card had reported hearing voices and had threatened to carry out a shooting at the military training base in Saco, Maine.
There were 29 total homicides in Maine last year, according to State Department of Public Safety statistics cited by NBC News.
Maine has a fairly high level of gun ownership, and relatively lax laws: Roughly half of its households have them, according to research cited by Maine public radio last year.
But unlike many states with such a large supply, it sees relatively few fatal shootings each year: 89 percent of gun deaths are suicide, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
The death toll of 22, which could rise, is the largest from a mass shooting this year. The U.S. is currently on pace to meet or surpass the previous record for the most mass shootings in a year, which was set in 2021 with a total of 690, according to Gun Violence Archive (GVA) data.
