The suspected shooter in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States is 40-year-old weapons instructor and Army reservist Robert Card. A few days after the shooting, he was found dead in a trailer in a nearby town.
Already in January, Robert Card’s mental health had deteriorated, according to his family. Later in the spring the condition had worsened and the family then expressed concern to the police about his well-being and his access to weapons.
Never flagged
The local police department in Lewiston, Maine in the United States followed up on the signals with the US Army Reserve, according to documents that ABC News took part in.
But even though he showed signs of paranoia, had uttered threats and displayed increasingly aggressive behavior in the months before the shooting, there is nothing in the documents to indicate that he was seen by a doctor or taken into involuntary care.
The lack of handling led to him not receiving a “yellow flag” in the state of Maine, something that is required for one to be deprived of one’s weapons.
The Brother: Be worried about the weapons
During the time that Robert Card’s mental health was deteriorating, he went to his brother’s house and retrieved about fifteen guns that he had kept at his house. He must have had one of the weapons in the car.
According to the brother, Robert Cars could hold drunken monologues about “he might have to shoot someone”. At the same time, the son and ex-wife have told that Card often imagined that people were saying things behind his back, for example that they called him a pedophile.
Both the son and the wife are also said to have worried for their own safety and asked the police not to tell Card about what they said, so as not to “escalate the situation”.
Admitted to psychiatry
Even within the reserve army, Card’s paranoia has been clear. In testimony obtained by ABC News, other reservists say he also accused them of calling him a sex offender. The allegations prompted Card to confront a reservist during a night out. The situation turned violent and led to Card being sent to an Army psychologist who determined he needed further treatment.
Robert Card was then admitted to a psychiatric ward for treatment but was released after 14 days. In September, a fellow reservist expressed his concern that Card would commit a mass shooting, and several authorities then had their eyes on the man.
Despite warnings that the 40-year-old weapons instructor was “known to be armed and dangerous”, the man was able to walk free and later open fire at a bar and bowling alley. 18 people were murdered and Robert Card was later found dead in a tractor trailer at a recycling center.