Robert Card, 40, was discovered days after a dayslong search performed by native and federal regulation enforcement after at the least 18 individuals have been killed and 13 others have been wounded within the deadliest mass capturing of the 12 months.
Parts of Maine, like Lewiston and Bowdoin, have been below shelter-in-place advisories, because the group is rattled by the tragedy — and waits for Card to be caught. Police mentioned he must be thought-about “armed and dangerous”.
He was believed to be carrying a high-powered assault-style rifle and probably further ammunition. Investigators are nonetheless on the hunt for Card, as of Thursday afternoon.
Here’s how the tragedy unfolded.
Months earlier than the lethal assaults, Card, a US Army reservist, was reportedly held in a psychological facility for weeks over the summer time. He was taken by police in July for analysis on the urging of involved navy officers. In the identical vein, Karen Card, the suspect’s sister-in-law, revealed to The Daily Beast that “in the past year, he had an acute episode of mental health, and it’s been a struggle.” Since his launch from the ability, she added, “things have kind of gone downhill recently,”
Minutes earlier than 7pm on Wednesday evening, photographs have been fired at Just-in-Time Recreation, a bowling alley on Mollison Way in Lewiston, Maine.
At 7.08pm, a number of 911 calls reported an energetic shooter at Schemengees Bar and Grill on Lincoln Street, simply 4 miles from the bowling alley.
Just after 8pm, Maine State Police urged Lewiston residents to shelter in place. “Please stay inside your home with the doors locked. Law enforcement is currently investigating at multiple locations,” the division wrote.
At 8.06pm, police launched a photograph of the shooter to the media, and an hour and a half later, the Lewiston Police Department acquired a name figuring out the person in pictures as Card. Among the primary calls have been from Card’s relations, officers revealed on Saturday morning.
Two hours later, at 9.56pm, state cops alerted that they’d discovered a “vehicle of interest” in Lisbon at Pejepscot Boat Launch, prompting the shelter-in-place advisory to increase to Lisbon. The Lewiston Police posted a photograph on Wednesday evening of a white Subaru station wagon. That car was registered to Card, police mentioned. An extended gun was discovered within the car.
Police issued a photograph of the capturing suspect’s automobile
(LPD)
At 10pm, Androscoggin County officers carried out a shelter-in-place order for your complete county. The manhunt continued into the subsequent day.
At 6am on Thursday, state police ordered residents of Bowdoin — the place Card lives — to shelter in place. At that point, the division reported that over 100 investigators have been trying to find Card.
At a ten.30am press convention on Thursday, officers confirmed that the capturing had taken 18 lives and left 13 others injured. An arrest warrant for eight counts of homicide was issued for Card. State Police Colonel William Ross defined that extra counts can be added as extra individuals have been recognized — as of Thursday morning, 10 remained unidentified.
(AP)
By Friday night, police had discovered Card’s physique — in a field trailer in Maine Recycling Corporation’s overflow lot. Authorities consider he took his personal life. It’s not totally clear how Card wound up on the recycling facility, however it’s believed that he walked from the boat touchdown through a path that linked the 2 places.
Authorities revealed that they’d twice “cleared” the ability earlier than receiving a name from the recycling plant’s proprietor, who mentioned that Card knew the ability nicely. Police didn’t verify whether or not Card was working there on the time of the capturing, however stories have claimed that he had lately been fired from the plant. So, police searched by 55 to 60 trailers within the lot, main them to Card, who was discovered alongside two fireamrs.
“He is dead,” Maine Gov Janet Mills mentioned at a information convention after the search concluded, as she thanked the officers concerned within the manhunt. “Like many people, I am breathing a sign of relief tonight, knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone… Now is the time to heal.”
President Biden additionally remarked on the tragedy, calling on Congress to cross gun security laws. “Americans should not have to live like this,” Mr Biden wrote in a press release on Saturday. “I call on Republicans in Congress to fulfill their obligation to keep Americans safe. And I will continue doing everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic. The Lewiston community, and all Americans, deserve nothing less.”
