18 people were murdered when Robert Card opened fire in a bar and in a bowling alley in the American city of Lewiston.
On Friday evening, the police found him dead in a tractor trailer at a recycling center.
“It’s clear there’s a mental illness component to this,” said Mike Sauschuck, director of public safety for the state of Maine.
Robert Card, the man suspected of having shot dead 18 people in two mass shootings in the city of Lewiston in the United States, was found dead on Friday evening in a tractor trailer near a recycling center where he used to work.
This is stated by Mike Sauschuck, director of public safety in the state of Maine, at a press conference about the act that was carried out in a popular bar and in a bowling alley on Wednesday evening local time, according to AFP.
Heard voices and was paranoid
The police state that the shooter took his own life, and that he suffered from serious mental problems. Robert Card was able to buy guns legally because he was never forced into treatment for his mental health.
Sauschuck states that the suspected perpetrator must have heard voices and was paranoid.
– It is obvious that there is a mental illness component in this, he says at the press conference.
Next to Robert Card’s body, the police found a note he had left behind. Sauschuck says the note is seen in the investigation as a suicide note.
Found note by Robert Card’s body
At the press conference, the security chief also talked about Robert Card’s family being helpful in the investigation. According to the police, the family must have been among the first to call and identify the suspected shooter during the initial police operation.
– This family has been incredibly cooperative, says Sauschuck.
Investigators working on the case are still working to determine the motive behind the mass shootings.