Who is Robert Card? Confirmed details on Maine shooting suspect

Authorities are still attempting to locate Robert Card, the suspect in two mass shootings that left at least 18 people dead and another 13 injured in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday night, officials say. Card was initially considered a person of interest, but officials have since confirmed that he is viewed as a suspect in the shootings.

There is an arrest warrant out for eight counts of murder for Card, authorities said Thursday morning. Eight of the shooting victims have been identified and their families have been notified, and the counts will likely increase as the remaining victims are identified, officials said.

Card is 40 years old and is from Bowdoin, Maine, a town near Lewiston, officials said. He is described as being 5’11” tall and weighing 230 pounds. 

He “should be considered armed and dangerous,” the police department in Lewiston, which is about 35 miles north of Portland, said in a Facebook post shared late  Wednesday. Police said he fled in the aftermath of the shootings. 

Multiple shelter-in-place orders were issued for cities and counties in the region, and authorities expanded those advisories as the manhunt continued Thursday.

Authorities have shared several images of the suspect in the shootings and asked anyone who recognizes him to contact law enforcement. The Lewiston Police Department released images on social media that showed the man holding a semiautomatic rifle at one of the shooting scenes Wednesday night, wearing a brown shirt, dark pants and light shoes. 

Card attended the University of Maine as an engineering student but it was unknown whether he graduated from the school, CBS Boston reported. His last known address was in Bowdoin.

He also has connections to Massachusetts, sources told CBS News Boston, but the exact nature of his ties to Massachusetts were not immediately clear. Massachusetts State Police are stationed at the Maine border along with federal agents. Officers were also stationed along the Maine border and the New Hampshire border as a precaution.

Military background

Card is enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and has an active military ID, which gives him access to any military base, according to a Maine law enforcement bulletin seen by CBS News. Officials previously said Card was a firearms instructor in the Army Reserve stationed in Saco, Maine, but later said that was not the case.

A U.S. Army spokesperson told CBS News on Thursday that Card enlisted in the reserves in December 2002 and serves as a petroleum supply specialist. 

He has no combat deployments, the spokesperson said. Card has received a number of awards for his service, including the Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

Mental health history

Card recently reported experiencing mental health issues, including hearing voices, and threatened to shoot up a military base in Saco, the law enforcement bulletin said. He was also reported to have been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks over this past summer, according to the bulletin.

In mid-July, leaders of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 3rd battalion told garrison staff that Card was “behaving erratically,” a spokesperson for the New York Army National Guard said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday. The battalion was staying at the Camp Smith training site in Cortlandt, while training at the U.S. Military Academy.  

“Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “New York State Police responded and transported Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for medical evaluation.”

What happened in Lewiston?

The shootings began just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said at a news conference. Authorities said they responded to Schemengees Bar and Grille, a local restaurant, and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley, which are about 10 minutes by car from each other. 

Authorities said Thursday that seven people were killed at the bowling alley — one woman and six men — and eight people, all of whom were men, were killed at the bar and grill, with seven found inside the restaurant and one outside. All of them died from apparent gunshot wounds, Colonel William Ross, with the Maine State Police, said.

Ross said three more people died from their injuries while being transported to hospitals.

“We cannot and we will not rest in this endeavor,” said Maine Governor Janet Mills. Mills said she spoke with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of the shootings. 

The police chief in Lisbon, Maine, near Lewiston, also urged the public Thursday morning to report anything that might seem suspicious in their neighborhoods.

State Police said a “vehicle of interest” was recovered by police in Lisbon.  The vehicle matched a description of a vehicle that Card was known to have been driving following the shooting, a 2013 white Subaru Outback with a black bumper, which appeared in the law enforcement bulletin. 

According to a law enforcement bulletin, Card has two other vehicles registered to him: a 2022 Yamaha motorcycle and a 2019 Sea Doo green boat. Both are registered in Maine.  

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, in Bath, said they have had “interactions” with Card in the past, CBS affiliate WGME reported. 

No sightings of Card have been reported since Wednesday night, authorities said.

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