Suspected mass shooter Robert Card found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wound in Lisbon, Maine
Robert Card, the suspect in this week’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, was found dead Frday in nearby Lisbon after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to authorities.
The development was welcome news to residents who’d been on lockdown since his rampage claiming 18 lives and wounding 13 others on Wednesday night.
“Like many people, I’m breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said at a late Friday press conference.
“Tonight the city of Lewiston and the state of Maine begin to move forward on what will be a long and difficult road to healing, but we will heal together,” she added.
Card was located on Friday evening in the woods about 8 miles from where the massacre took place, CNN reported.
The body was found near a recycling center where the suspect used to work — wearing the same clothes he had on Wednesday — according to Michael Shepherd of the local Bangor Daily News, who cited Maine Sen. Angus King.
“So happy this nightmare is over,” local resident John Riordan told the Lewiston Sun Journal, “and hopefully the families can get some closure. It will be nice to get back to some state of normalcy.”
A huge manhunt had failed to uncover Card, 40, in the days after the shooting, in which 13 people were wounded inside a bowling alley and at a bar.
“I know that no words can diminish, the shock, pain and justifiable anger you fell,” Maine Sen. Susan Collins said on social media, addressing victims’ families.
“It is my hope you may find solace and strength in knowing that you are in the hearts of people throughout Maine and across the nation.”
While the suspect was believed to be still at large, residents across Lewiston hunkered down in their homes, locking their doors and closing their curtains as officers spanning multiple law enforcement agencies undertook the search.
Card faced eight counts of attempted murder in connection with the carnage that unfolded Wednesday night at Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-in-Time Recreation, a bowling alley a few miles away.
Maine State Police Col. William Ross said 10 more charges were likely be issued as all 18 victims have now been identified by the state medical examiner’s office. Officials announced the names of those victims at a press conference Friday evening. They ranged in age from 14 to 76.
Fear sparked by the mass killing touched residents in cities far beyond the Lewiston area. In Portland, officials opted to close down its public buildings, while Canada’s Border Services Agency issued an “armed and dangerous” alert to agents stationed along the U.S. border.
In New York, every officer received a photo of Card and some were tasked with checking vehicles at bridges and tunnels leading into the city.
Card was a U.S. Army reservist who had a mental health evaluation over the summer after he began acting erratically during training, according to a U.S. official.
He was released from the mental health facility after two weeks, according to the Maine Information and Analysis Center.
According to his sister-in-law, Katie Card, the suspect reportedly told his family he specifically heard voices at the two locations he allegedly attacked.
“He truly believed he was hearing people say things,” including disparaging things being said about him at the bowling alley and the bar, she told the Daily Beast.
Investigators also learned from Card’s sister that he may have been looking for an ex-girlfriend at those locations.
With News Wire Services
