Army Reserve Soldier Suspected In Maine Mass Killing Had Mental Health Issues, Purchased Guns Legally

Oleh Admin 30 Okt, 2023 Posting Komentar

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Police missed two clear opportunities to shut down and end a ring of terror in Maine's second-largest city after a gunman killed 18 people at a bowling alley and bar after a recent shooting spree turned paranoid.

Robert Card's body was found Friday in a trailer at the Lisbon Falls Recycling Center, where police had searched the previous day. Authorities said Card died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it was unclear when.

A 40-year-old man is believed to have injured 13 people in a shooting in Lewiston Wednesday night.

Lisbon Police Chief Ryan McGee said law enforcement is looking for Maine Recycling Corp., where Card used to work. On Thursday, he searched and cleared his property, but did not check other parts of the company's property nearby. Officers returned Friday morning and again found nothing.

Another team returned that evening and searched other parts of the property that had not been surveyed and found Card's body in the trailer along with two firearms, McGee said. The gun was found in Cardo's vehicle, which was left nearby Wednesday night.

Jim Ferguson, special agent in charge of the Boston Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said authorities found several guns during a search of Cardo and believe he obtained them legally, including those found in his car and next to his body. . And explosives. He declined to provide specific details of the weapon, including its make and model, and did not say exactly how many were found.

Investigators are still looking for a motive for the killing, but are increasingly focusing on Card's mental health history. State Department Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sawchuk said Card heard voices and was paranoid, adding, "People are talking about him and there could be voices."

Authorities conducted a mental health evaluation of Card, who began acting erratically at an Army training facility in New York last summer. A bulletin sent to police shortly after the attack this week said Card had been in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks after hearing "noises and threats to open fire" at the military base.

At a news conference Saturday, Sawchuk said there was no evidence that Card had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, which would have made it illegal for him to own a gun. He said a mere assessment or voluntary commitment would not result in a ban.

Under Maine's yellow flag law, law enforcement officers can detain anyone they suspect is mentally ill and a danger to themselves or others. These laws differ from red flag laws, which require police to first conduct a medical examination and determine a person's personal danger before asking a judge to confiscate a person's firearm.

"Because there is a mental health connection in this scenario, the vast majority of people who receive a mental health diagnosis will never harm anyone," Sawchuk said.

Police found notes in Card's home addressed to her relatives, which included a phone number and bank account number, Sauschuk said. The commissioner said he would not publicly describe it as a suicide note, but the tone suggested it was intentional.

According to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the investigation, Cardo's family members told federal investigators that he had recently started hearing voices and was increasingly drawn to bowling alleys and bars.

Life returned to the streets of Lewiston Saturday after days of chaos in the city of 37,000. Contestants took advantage of the warm weather. People walked their dogs downtown, bought coffee and visited other stores that closed after the shooting.

"Right now, we want Maine to be remembered as one community after this tragic event," McGee said, recalling driving around town Saturday and "seeing people walking down the street, sitting on their porches and waving. They were impressed."

For many residents, this thought is a day of mourning, and for others it is the first uncertain steps towards a normal life. On the opening day of gun season, some people went deer hunting and one family handed out buckets of flowers downtown. Others took aim at the card from the bar, which gathered in the square of memory of the victims.

William Brackett, whose son was among those killed, attended the memorial service Saturday and said he felt the tension leave his body when he learned of Card's death.

"I told you, if I had a bottle of champagne, I would open it and celebrate," he said.

Billy Brackett was shot several times and died on the way to the hospital. She said that her son's deafness does not allow him to do anything in life, including various sports.

"He's a good guy. He's big and rough, and I think all the little kids love him. They crowd around the big guys," Brackett said. "Maybe they thought he was going to be our quarterback."

Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Church in Lewiston, said parishioners shared stories about the people who died in the shooting and also tried to help each other after the tragedy.

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"It's always hard for me to see people hurt. I can't fix it. No matter how much I want to, I can't fix it," Greenleaf said. "We can pray together and I hope that at least eases the burden, that our parishioners are experiencing".

About 150 people gathered for a vigil in a grassy field at Lisbon Falls, not far from where Carte's body was found. They lit a candle and a group of volunteers came in with their traumatized dog.

Ben Nitschke and Daniel Voss, a couple from Australia, traveled from their home in Portland to attend. They said Maine has been very welcoming since they arrived in 2019, and they want to be with their adopted community while they grieve.

"This is the first time we have encountered something like this," Nitschke (32) said. "We just wanted to come pay our respects."

Pastor Jonathan Jones of Lisbon Falls Baptist Church prayed and thanked the police. He then announced the names of the 18 people who died in the shooting.

"We will rise from these ashes with God's grace and mercy.

The deadliest shooting in Maine history shocked a state of 1.3 million people that saw relatively few violent crimes in 2022, with just 29 homicides.

At Maine Medical Center of Central, three patients remain in critical condition and a fourth is in stable condition, hospital officials said. Another patient was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, and the others were released from the hospital.

A stay-at-home order imposed during the massive search was lifted Friday afternoon, hours before authorities said they found Card's body at a recycling company in Maine.

Card served as chief commercial officer for about a year and left voluntarily at the end of last spring, the company said.

The Cardes have lived in Bowdoin for generations, and several relatives own hundreds of acres in the area, neighbors said. The family owned a local sawmill and donated the land to the local church many years ago.

Sauschuk praised the family for calling in investigators to name the shooter shortly after police released surveillance footage of the shooter.

"The family was with us a lot," said Savchuk. "Honestly, the first three people we called ... were family members."

The Lewiston shooting was the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database compiled by the Associated Press and USA Today in collaboration with Northeastern University.

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Whittle reports from Portland, Maine. Associated Press reporters Robert Buccati in Lewiston, Michael Balsama in New York and Michael Casey in Boston contributed.

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