Still-at-large Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card appears to have targeted a blind cornhole night during his deadly attack.
Four of the eight killed at Schemengees Bar & Grille on Wednesday night had attended a cornhole night for deaf people at the location.
Card, an avid cornhole player, had recently suffered significant hearing loss and had begun using high-powered hearing aids, his family told the Daily Beast after the massacre.
His sister-in-law Katie Card said he had become paranoid and thought he could hear people’s voices talking about him, including in the bar and bowling alley, which were attacked, leaving 18 dead in total.
“He got angry and said we didn’t believe him. We tried to listen to him and tell him that no one was talking about him,” Katie told the Daily Beast.
“As the story unfolded, we prayed that Rob had nothing to do with this. But when we found out the two places where the shooting occurred, my husband ran home.”
Inside Edition posted images of a U.S. Army reservist and former recycling plant worker playing cornhole, along with a social media post from a bar regular after the shooting, who wrote, “I can’t believe we’ve all played cornhole with that guy. last winter. “I’m really glad none of us were at the tournament tonight.”
Of the Schemengees victims, Steven Vozzella and Bryan MacFarlane, 40, have been confirmed as members of the deaf community, while Joshua Seal worked as an American Sign Language interpreter for the Pine Tree Society.
Suspected mass shooter Robert Card, 40, suffered from hearing loss.Facebook/Robert Card
Bill Bracket was also participating in the tournament and was killed, although it is unclear if he was also part of the community.
Card’s family says he had recently been having trouble, that he “truly believed he was hearing people saying things” and that “all of this happened in the last few months.”
Follow the Post’s coverage of the mass shooting in Maine
Police in Maine say Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in a shooting Wednesday night. Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office Bryan MacFarlane was one of four deaf people killed in the Wednesday night shooting. Bill Bracket was also murdered at Schemengees Bar & Grille, where the deaf community gathers every Wednesday to play cornhole. Joshua Seal, a sign language interpreter, also died in the attack Wednesday night. Facebook/Elizabeth Seal Seal gained notoriety during the COVID pandemic, as one of the lead performers for Governor Janet Mills and Dr. Nirav Shah.X / @MalWGME
Card appears on security camera entering the Just-In-Time Recreation Bowl in Lewiston shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday and opening fire with an assault rifle.
Minutes later, he allegedly attacked Schemengees Bar & Grille about four miles away, killing people inside and out.
How the Maine shooting unfolded
First reports of active shooter
Wednesday, 6:56 p.m.: Police responded to multiple reports of an active shooter at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, said Col. William Ross of the Maine State Police.
Second reported location
7:08 p.m.: Authorities received several calls reporting a gunman at Schemengees Bar & Grille about four miles from Just-In-Time, Ross said.
The first photos of the suspect emerge
8:00 p.m.: The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office posted a grainy image of the then-unidentified suspect holding what appeared to be an AR-15 assault rifle on Just-in-Time on Facebook, asking the public to come forward with any information. .
Shelter in place issued
8:09 p.m.: Maine State Police issued a warning about an active shooter in Lewiston and urged locals to shelter in place, CNN reported.
Police in the neighboring city of Auburn issued a shelter-in-place alert a few minutes later.
9:17 p.m.: Lewiston police posted a photo of a white Subaru with a black bumper and asked the public to let them know if they saw the car.
Suspect identified
9:26 p.m.: The Lewiston Police Department received a call identifying the suspect as Army Reservist Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
9:56 p.m.: A Subaru matching the previously posted photo was found at the Pejepscot boat launch on the Androscoggin River in Lisbon, outside Lewiston, according to the Sun Journal.
Hunt
10:52 p.m.: Lewiston police announced on Facebook that they were looking for Robert Card as a person of interest in connection with the shootings.
The public was warned that Card should be considered “armed and dangerous.”
Thursday, after 6 a.m.: After unsuccessfully searching for Card throughout the night and early morning, police expanded the shelter-in-place order to the Bowdoin area.
Authorities confirm the death toll
10:30 a.m.: Gov. Janet Mills and other officials addressed the public at a news conference.
Mills and police leaders confirmed that 18 people were killed and 13 more were injured.
Late morning: Leroy Walker told NBC News that his son, Schemengees bar manager Joseph Walker, was killed in the shooting.
2 pm: The US Coast Guard confirmed they were searching for Card and that he may have attempted to escape in a 1989 Bayliner Marine Corp 15′ fiberglass boat that public records show he owned.
In addition to the 18 dead, 13 others were injured by gunfire, including a 10-year-old girl.
Members of the deaf community say they were especially affected by the murders.
“We are a community, a very close-knit community, and we support each other, and it is devastating to know that we have lost some of our most valued, most cared for and loved people within our community,” performer Regan Thibideau said, according to Fox 23.
Deaf actress and activist Marlee Matlin expressed her grief for the deaf community in X. Members of the deaf community said the shooting was “devastating” for their tight-knit community.REUTERS
Deaf actress and activist Marlee Matlin also expressed her pain for the community in a post on X.
“Mass shootings are horrible, but yesterday’s one hits the deaf community everywhere especially hard,” she wrote on Thursday.
“When mass shootings hit a close-knit community like ours, it shows that NO ONE is immune to such horrific violence,” Matlin explained.
“My heart aches for everyone.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn