Maine shooting: US police searched the area where murderer Robert Card’s body lay twice before finding it
The deadliest shootings in Maine history have stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and only had 29 murders in all of 2022.
Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, said teams that searched the Maine recycling site Thursday night found nothing.
He said another state police team returned to the site Friday and found Robert Card’s body in a location that apparently had not been searched.
Card died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
At a news conference yesterday, Sauschuck also said that shortly after CCTV images of the shooter were released, Card’s family asked investigators to give police his name.
“This family has been incredibly cooperative with us,” Sauschuck said. “To be honest, the first three people who called us were family members.”
40-year-old Robert Card – a firearms instructor who grew up in the area – killed 18 people and injured 13 more in his rampage at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston on Wednesday night.
Michael Sauschuck, Maine Public Safety Commissioner. Photo: Reuters
Street life returned to Lewiston yesterday morning after a long lockdown in the city of 37,000.
Joggers took advantage of the warm weather. People walked dogs and visited stores that had been closed since the shooting.
US President Joe Biden called on Congress to take action against gun violence in a statement.
The deadliest shootings in Maine history have stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and only had 29 murders in all of 2022.
In Lewiston, the 37,000 residents and people in surrounding areas were ordered to stay home as hundreds of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers stormed the area.
Card was a U.S. Army reservist and underwent a mental health evaluation last summer after he exhibited erratic behavior during training.
A bulletin sent to police across the country shortly after the attack said Card had been committed to a psychiatric facility for two weeks after “hearing voices and threats to attack a military base.”
On Wednesday, Card first robbed the bowling alley and then went to the bar. Police were quickly sent to both locations – but Card was able to escape.
Over the next two days, authorities searched the woods and hundreds of acres of Card’s family property and sent dive teams with sonar to the bottom of the nearby Androscoggin River.
The Maine Education Center for the Deaf said at least four members of their community were killed in the bowling alley shooting.
Authorities found a suicide note addressed to his son at a home associated with Card on Thursday. They said there was no specific motive.
They also said the shooter used at least one rifle. They have not released any further details, including how the suspect obtained the firearm.
The Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbors said, and various family members own hundreds of acres of land in the area.
The family owned the local sawmill and donated the land to a local church years ago.
Card’s family members told federal investigators that he had recently talked about hearing voices and had become more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according to law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
When he was hospitalized in New York in July, Card told military officials he heard voices and said he wanted to harm other soldiers, the officials said.
After the attack, authorities banned hunting in several local communities, in a state where it is extremely popular.
However, after Card’s death was confirmed, a public safety alert was issued saying, “The search for Mr. Card is over.” The caution is over. Hunting can resume.”
The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year.
