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Maine mass shooting suspect identified: What we know about Robert Card

His image was initially captured on security cameras, where he was seen as a bearded man wearing a brown hoodie and jeans, holding a semi-automatic rifle

Published: Thu 26 Oct 2023, 11:11 AM

Updated: Thu 26 Oct 2023, 11:13 AM

By
Web Desk

Lewiston Maine Police Department via Facebook/Handout via Reuters, AFP

Scores of local and state police are now racing against time to find the man linked to the mass shootings that killed at least 16 to 22 people in Lewiston, Maine.

With the gunman still at large, shops were shuttered and homes had all doors and windows locked. Panic gripped the state, hours after shots were fired at a recreation centre, a bowling alley, and a neighbourhood bar.

The authorities have identified the main suspect as a 40-year-old man named Robert Card.

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His image was initially captured on security cameras, where he was seen as a bearded man wearing a brown hoodie and jeans — holding what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle in the firing position.

Here's what we know so far about Card:

He is a trained firearms instructor.
He is a member of the US Army Reserve.
Previous posts on his now-deactivated Facebook account suggest that he may have served the army for 20 years and retired earlier this year.
He had reportedly been admitted to a mental health facility over the summer.
He had reported that he had mental health issues, including hearing voices.
A report said he threatened to shoot up a National Guard base.

Maine doesn't require permits to carry guns, and the state has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its traditions of hunting and sport shooting.

Some recent attempts by gun control advocates to tighten the state’s gun laws have failed. Proposals to require background checks for private gun sales and create a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases failed earlier this year. Proposals that focused on school security and banning bump stocks failed in 2019.

State residents have also voted down some attempts to tighten gun laws in Maine. A proposal to require background checks for gun sales failed in a 2016 public vote.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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