By Luis de Jesus
30 Oct 2023, 11:57 PM EDT
The family of Robert Card, the perpetrator of the two shootings last Wednesday that left 18 people dead in the town of Lewiston, Maine, had warned the Police about the mental health of the man, who had access to firearms. According to them, they claimed that the shooter allegedly “heard voices” and had episodes of paranoia.
The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that it received at least two reports pointing out the situation of the 40-year-old retired soldier, who was also held for two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.
The officer indicated that the first was issued in May by the ex-wife and son, who reported that the man was hearing voices and had episodes of paranoia, Efe reported. They also warned that he had access to firearms. Then, in September, the Sheriff’s Office received an email from the Army reserve unit alerting that Robert Card was hearing voices accusing him of being a pedophile and that he had threatened to carry out a shooting at the base. of the reserve.
The news agency indicated, according to the newspaper Portland Press Herald, that authorities tried to contact Card, but did not find him at his residence. But his brother assured them that he would make sure the man did not have access to his firearms.
On Friday, Maine State Police identified all 18 victims of the shootings in Lewiston.
•Ronald G. Morin, 55
•Peyton Brewer-Ross, 40
•Joshua A. Seal, 36
•Bryan M. MacFarlane, 41
•Joseph Lawrence Walker, 57
•Arthur Fred Strout, 42
•Maxx A. Hathaway, 35
•Stephen M. Vozzella,… pic.twitter.com/eeNvUUtdpj— Politisite (@Politisite) October 28, 2023
The American news network CNN indicated that a friend of Card expressed concern about the possibility that the man was going to “explode and commit a shootout” with multiple fatalities, as actually happened later.
After two days of intense searching, officers found Card’s body on October 28 in a recycling truck in the parking lot of a plant where he had been working. He had a shot in the head. The agents who participated in the work had found hours before a letter from him in one of his homes in Bowdoin, in which he announced that they would not find him alive.
His vehicle was found the night of the event in Lisbon, a town located about 12 kilometers from Lewiston, where the massacre occurred.
Keep reading:
• Maine gunman Robert Card wrote in a letter that he would not be found alive
• Robert Card, the suspect in the shootings in Maine that left 18 victims, was found dead
• Divers, underwater robots and sonars search for Maine gunman along the Androscoggin River