LEWISTON, Maine — A 40-year-old mass murderer who unleashed terror on this community was found dead at a recycling center Friday night that was twice passed over by police, appeared to be struggling with mental health issues, and left a note to a loved one, authorities said Saturday.
Maine State Police found Robert Card’s body inside a box trailer parked in an overflow lot across the street from the Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon, an area that had not been checked when law enforcement previously searched the site two times.
The discovery of Card’s body brought to an end a massive manhunt that included hundreds of police from around the country canvassing communities around Lewiston, a search operation that kept the cities and towns in the immediate area on edge.
Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said police cleared the trailers in the main part of the recycling center but did not know there was an overflow parking lot owned by the business, which had an “employment relationship” with Card.
Only until the business owner informed law enforcement that a parking lot across the street was part of the recycling center did police search the trailer where Card was ultimately found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“The primary reason that we were back in that location is because, I will say this from a community policing, from a relationship standpoint, the owner of a business calls his police chief and says, ‘Hey, I want somebody to make sure that they’re clearing that,’ ” Sauschuck said.
Lisbon Police Chief Ryan McGee said officers cleared the recycling business at least once on Thursday but did not have the specific timeline of additional searches. The overflow lot had between 55 to 60 trailers full of crushed up plastic and metal, McGee said.
“This isn’t a lot that’s just all empty trailers,” he said at Lewiston City Hall. “I’m not going to get into more of the details on that. I mean, realistically, right now, we should all be really thinking about the victims.”
In the weeks before the mass shooting, police across Maine had been alerted to “veiled threats” by the U.S. Army reservist, the Associated Press reported. A statewide awareness alert was sent in mid-September to be on the lookout for Card after the firearms instructor made threats against his base and fellow soldiers, the AP reported. But after stepped-up patrols of the base and a visit to Card’s home – neither of which turned up any sign of him – they moved on.
It is still unclear what exactly pushed Card to kill 18 people and injure 13 others Wednesday at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant, two local establishments in Lewiston.
There is a “mental health aspect” to the shootings, Sauschuck said, as well as “paranoia.” Investigators have “a lot of work yet to do” on Card’s phone and technology that could give insight into a motive, he said.
“I think of what I’ve read and what I’ve seen is that the individual felt like people were talking about him. It may even appear that there were some voices in play here. And we don’t believe that any of that is accurate. And I think that led him specifically back to those two specific locations,” Sauschuck said.
Authorities said they do not have any information that indicates the shooting was premeditated, with Sauschuck only telling reporters, “We know that there were two specific target locations.”
“He did go one to the other, he ditched his car in a specific spot. Again, maybe we’ll find additional information in one of these devices that says, ‘This is what my plan was.’ All we can do is look at what actually occurred,” he said.
A paper-style note written to a loved one was found at Card’s Bowdoin residence by law enforcement, Sauschuck said. The note included the passcode to Card’s phone and bank account information, authorities said.
The note was written with the “tone and tenor” that the author was not going to be around when it was found, Sauschuck said.
“I wouldn’t describe it as an explicit suicide note. But the tone and tenor was that the individual was not going to be around and wanted to make sure that this loved one had access to his phone and whatever was in his phone,” Sauschuck said.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent In Charge Jim Ferguson said the multiple firearms that were recovered were purchased legally by Card, including some “days before” the shootings.
“There’s been a number of firearms that have been recovered as part of this investigation and some of them have been purchased very recently and some of them years and years ago,” Ferguson said.
One long rifle was found in Card’s car, which he ditched at a boat launch in Lisbon, and two were located next to his body, authorities said. Officials did not have the exact makes and models of the weapons.
Card’s family was “incredibly cooperative” with police, Sauschuck said.
“Truth be told, I think the first three people that called us to positively identify this individual based on the photos that were released were family members,” he said. “… It would have been detrimental if they didn’t come forward immediately to let us know who this individual was.”
Several vigils were planned for the weekend, including one at 6 p.m. in Lisbon Saturday and another at 6:30 p.m. at the Franco Center in Lewiston.
McGee, the Lisbon police chief, said, “There’s going to be a candlelight vigil being held there in Lisbon to remember the victims that were tragically killed in Lewiston.”
