Robert Card’s body found in open trailer: police investigate ‘mental health component’

The body of Lewiston mass shooting gunman Robert Card was found in an open trailer with two firearms next to him as police said they are now investigating the “mental health component” behind the massacre.

Card, 40, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a trailer at Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said at a news conference. Saturday morning.

The recycling plant was previously cleaned twice by authorities, who then returned to the site when the business owner alerted them to an overflowing lot with additional trailers, Sauschuck explained.

“No one had any idea that there was an overflowing parking lot across the street,” he said.

Card had a “working relationship” with the company, Sauschuck said, but declined to elaborate on whether the Army reservist was a current or former employee of the plant.

Card’s body was found in a trailer that was “open from the outside” and next to two firearms.

“The only photo I saw looked like he had the same sweatshirt he had in the [surveillance photo] that we turn off [from] the bowling alley,” Sauschuck said.

Authorities declined to give an exact time of death, pending autopsy results.

The three weapons (the two found with Card’s body and the “long gun-type” firearm discovered Wednesday in the suspect’s abandoned Subaru) “appear to have been purchased legally by him,” Lisbon’s police chief confirmed. Ryan McGee.

Robert Card was found dead Friday night.AP

“Some of them were…bought very recently. and some of them [were bought] “Years and years ago,” McGee said.

Card also left a “paper note” addressed to a loved one that included his cell phone password and bank account numbers, Sauschuck continued.

“I wouldn’t describe it as an explicit suicide note, but the tone and tenor was that the individual was not going to be present,” the commissioner said.

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Previous reports indicated that a note was found in Card’s home shortly after he was identified as a suspect in Wednesday night’s deadly shooting.

According to Sauschuck, police now have a search warrant for Card’s cell phone and bank accounts.

Card was first identified by his family. Lewiston Maine Police Department

The phone, in particular, can help authorities piece together how long Card planned the shooting, as well as his movements in the hours before the incident.

Card was first flagged as the possible shooter after his own family members called to identify him based on the surveillance image police released Wednesday night, Sauschuck said.

Follow the Post’s coverage of the mass shooting in Maine

“Our investigation would have been detrimental if they had not come forward immediately,” he said.

“They should be recognized for that. Overall, we have found them to be very cooperative.”

Card’s body was found at Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon. NYPJ

Katie O’Neill, Card’s sister-in-law, previously told The Post that the family was “heartbroken” by the shooting.

“There is clearly a mental health component to this,” Sauschuck said of the mass shooting at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille.

Card suffered psychological deterioration in the months before the murders and spent two weeks in a mental health facility after threatening to “shoot up” a military base, according to his relatives.

Still, authorities do not have access to any records indicating that the father of one of them was forcibly interned, Sauschuck explained.

When asked why Card’s history of mental health issues was not included in Maine’s yellow flag law, which allows police to ask a judge to temporarily ban a person from possessing firearms if they are a danger. for herself and others, Sauschuck said the law’s criteria are “very specific.”

Lewiston locals are in mourning after 18 people died Wednesday night. Robert Miller for NY Post

“[It’s] To begin with, this is an individual who is in the protective custody of authorities,” Sauschuck said.

“And do we have probable cause to believe that they are in possession [of guns], or who could be in possession of dangerous weapons? So if we meet those criteria, then it can take a person to a yellow flag evaluation and a weapons restriction evaluation. And at that point, your criteria changes from a probability of serious harm to the probability of foreseeable harm.”

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Card had no criminal record, other than a single charge in 2007 for operating under the influence, McGee said.

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.

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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.

Meanwhile, Lewiston, Lisbon and surrounding areas were beginning to revive Saturday morning after the two-day search for Card forced residents to shelter in place until the end of the week.

Locals trying to drop off their trash at the Lisbon Recycling and Transfer Center, which is near the center where Card’s body was discovered, were turned away as law enforcement continued to comb the scene.

“I’m happy they caught him. It could have been a lot worse,” a man who identified himself as Bob, 85, told The Post.

“I had a feeling when I saw the car at the boat ramp. I said he committed suicide,” the former police officer said, referring to the discovery of Card’s Subaru at the dock shortly after the shooting.

Card had a “working relationship” with the recycling plant, officials said. James Keivom for NY Post

Eighteen people were killed and 13 others wounded when the killer opened fire at the bowling alley and then the bar on Wednesday night.

“I’m surprised they found it… I’m glad it’s over. I feel so sorry for the poor people who lost their families,” Litchfield resident Melvina Wheeler, 77, told The Post after shopping at the Lisbon flea market.

“I’m just trying to keep a smile on my face. It’s hard. My heart is really sad but I am trying,” she continued.

“I was trying to be safe. I stay at home. “There weren’t many people outside.”

Three of the survivors remained in critical condition Saturday, according to Sauschuck.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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