Maine gunman Robert Card targeted several deaf friends at a cornhole club for the hard of hearing in a possible revenge attack, it was revealed today.
The previously assigned Army Reserve firearms instructor is still at large after storming into a bowling alley and a nearby bar in Lewiston with an AR-15 rifle Wednesday night, killing at least 18 people and wounding 13 others.
In the months before the shooting, Card had been prescribed a hearing aid, which he said allowed him to hear people criticizing him at Schemengee’s Bar, where he committed his second shooting.
The 40-year-old from Bowdon, Maine, first opened fire at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley shortly before 7 p.m., killing seven people. Ten minutes later, the gunman entered the nearby Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, where he killed eight other people. Three others died in hospital.
At the time of the horrific attack, the bar was hosting a cornhole tournament for the “close-knit” deaf community, in which Card actively participated. They played every Wednesday night as usual.
The local community is in uproar after it was confirmed that Bryan MacFarlane, Arthur Strout, Ron Morin and Joshua Seal were among the deaf people killed at Schemengees.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Card’s sister-in-law said the suspect claimed he could hear people “beating” him through the hearing aids. She added that Card has struggled with his mental health over the past year.
Deaf cornhole players Ron Morin (pictured left) and Arthur Strout (right) were shot and killed by Card
Deaf community member Bryan MacFarlane, 40, was also shot dead in Schemenges by Card
Deaf community activist Joshua Seal is pictured next to his wife Elisabeth
Robert Card, 40, was recently prescribed two hearing aids, which, according to his sister-in-law, led him to believe others were “beaten up” on him.
Card, a U.S. Army Reserve soldier, launched the first attack on a bowling alley (pictured) around 6:56 p.m., then struck again just 12 minutes later on a bar and restaurant four miles away
“He really believed he heard people saying things.” “All of this just happened in the last few months,” Katie Card said Thursday. She also said that Card would get “angry” when people tried to convince him that no one was talking about him.
“I have known Rob my whole life. He is quiet, but the most loving, hardworking and kind person I know. But last year he had an acute bout of mental health issues and it was a struggle,” she added.
When Katie Card first heard about the shooting, she hoped her brother-in-law had nothing to do with it.
“We know he’s out there and he’s a good person at heart.” If he has time to think after all this, he’ll be disgusted. We all want him to know that we love him and that we can handle things as a family. “He just needs to reach out and do the right thing,” she continued.
Among those killed was prominent American sign language interpreter Joshua Seal, 40.
“He was also a wonderful boss, an incredible interpreter, a great friend, a loving son, brother, uncle and grandson,” Seal’s wife Elizabeth wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
“He loved his family and always put them first. He will always be remembered for that.”
Police officers (right) stand near armored and tactical vehicles (center) near a property on Meadow Road in Bowdoin, Maine, on Thursday evening
Seal, who was deaf himself, was the program director of the Pine Tree Society, an interpreting service. His social media was full of calls for interpreters and he often drew attention to the importance of sign language.
He was also a father of four who “always loved spending time with them, traveling, taking a day trip to the beach or going camping on the weekend,” his wife said.
“My heart is shattered into a million pieces for our deaf community,” Krissey Taplin Richardson wrote in a tribute.
It was also confirmed that Joseph Walker and Peyton Brewer-Ross died in Schemengees, who were scheduled to play in a cornhole league with Ron Morin and another friend on Thursday.
FBI agents carried out a dramatic raid on a family’s property Thursday night, but Card, 40, remains on the run – as experts warned that the 40-year-old deer hunter and Army reservist was well equipped to survive in the wilderness and it could even be planning a new attack.
Now it turns out he left his phone behind to avoid detection, ABC News reported.
And his online search history included conspiracy theories and showed fears of a financial crisis and stock market crash; LGBTQ+ issues; Gun rights and comments about Democratic officials, including President Joe Biden, said ABC News.
Card was last seen Wednesday night fleeing the second of two locations in Lewiston, where he carried out attacks on a bowling alley and then a bar, shooting 18 people.
His abandoned car was found just before 10 p.m. in the town of Lisbon, seven miles from Lewiston.
Since then, more than 350 state and federal law enforcement officers have been combing the area for Card, supported by helicopters, drones and dogs.
The 40-year-old is an Army reservist stationed outside the town of Saco
Card lived in the small town of Bowdoin, near the homes of his parents and his brother and sister-in-law.
A neighbor told The Messenger that the Card family’s agreement was “basically a settlement” and that he and his relatives were all “gun ownership enthusiasts.”
“They were shooting guns all the time, you could hear them every day after school.” “It was like clockwork,” said Liam Kent.
He said he once saw Card “covered in blood with a gun strapped to his back and a huge grin on his face” after he went deer hunting.
Marko Galbreath, a former Florida police sergeant and SWAT team member, told that Card could have traveled anywhere – and the entire country needs to be vigilant.
“He could still be in the area planning a shootout with police, committing suicide or planning another attack.” Or, you know what, he could be in Texas right now. We have no idea.
“If he had planned it well enough, he could very well be well away from that area right now,” said Galbreath, who provides active shooter response training through his company T4Tactics.
“We need to tell the entire country that we need to do our due diligence until this guy is captured.”
He added: “He could have shaved, he could have put a wig on, he could have perhaps changed his appearance.” “He may not look the way people think, so we have to pay close attention.”
The Card family home in Bowdoin is pictured above. This is the suspect’s last known address
Galbreath added that Card’s military training also instilled a survival skills and mentality that taught him how to “live in an environment that is not pleasant.”
Card is believed to have joined the military reserves in 2002.
A bulletin sent to police across the country after the attack said Card was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks last summer after “hearing voices and threats to attack a military base.”
A U.S. official said Card was training with the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment at West Point, New York, when commanders became concerned about him.
Galbreath said Card’s history of mental illness meant he could have taken his own life in a remote location to “perpetuate fear in the public.”
Robert Carlson, a police officer and firearms instructor who founded the Brave Defender Training Group in Memphis, told that Card’s military background meant he had “the same, if not greater, level of training and experience as the respondent.” commands officers’.
“It increases the danger most significantly when you have someone who has some level of training or familiarity with tactics and weapons,” he said.
Carlson said it is important for law enforcement to provide information “so that the public is not only aware of their risk, but also so that they can assist law enforcement in attempting to identify or discover that individual.”
The search included forests, waterways and small towns surrounding rural areas in Maine where the shootings occurred.
Schools, doctor’s offices and grocery stores were closed and people remained behind closed doors in towns up to 50 miles from the scene of the shootings.
On Thursday night at 7:20 p.m., FBI agents were heard using a megaphone outside a home and saying, “Come out with your hands up.”
It was unclear who, if anyone, they were speaking to.
Card, his parents, and his brother and sister-in-law all live in the area.
Police began withdrawing at 8:42 p.m., and the last convoy – including Maryland State Police – left the scene at 9 p.m. A New Hampshire State Police helicopter also departed.
The FBI agents shouted with a megaphone to everyone inside the house: “Come out with your hands up.”
The FBI on Thursday evening illuminated this upstairs window of a home believed to belong to either Card’s parents or his brother and sister-in-law
A series of four loud bangs were heard Thursday evening near this home associated with Robert Card in Bowdoin, Maine
The agents had used a megaphone to tell a person to come toward them and asked if anyone else was inside. There were helicopters and drones overhead.
It was unclear whether anyone was in the house.
Connor Clemente, a reporter for local news station WMTWTV, said he heard the FBI himself order Card to leave the house.
He tweeted that he heard: “Robert Card, you’re under arrest.” “We know you’re inside. Come out with your hands up, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Maine State Police said the order to “come out with your hands up” was “standard” and declined to comment on who was inside.
“The announcements heard over a loudspeaker are standard search announcements when executing a search warrant to ensure the safety of all involved,” said Shannon Moss, a spokesman for the Maine State Police.
Timeline of the Lewiston shooting
Wednesday 6:56 p.m. – Shots reported at Just in Time Bowling Alley in Lewiston.
Wednesday, 7:08 p.m. – Shots reported at Schememenge’s Bar.
8:06 p.m. Wednesday – police release a photo of the shooter.
9:56 p.m. Wednesday – Police in Lisbon, seven miles from Lewiston, tell Lewiston police they have found the suspect’s abandoned car near a boat dock.
Wednesday, 11 p.m. – Robert Card, 40, named a “person of interest” by police.
5:00 p.m. Thursday – Police arrive at Meadow Lane, Bowdoin, where Card’s parents and brother live in neighboring homes. They leave at 6:18 p.m.
7:15 p.m. Thursday – Police return to Meadow Lane and use a megaphone to ask someone to “come out with your hands up.”
8:42 p.m. Thursday – many police vehicles drive away from the crime scene.
“It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes that police will be searching.”
“Law enforcement officers are simply doing their due diligence in pursuing every lead to locate and apprehend Card.”
Card, 40, has been on the run since he murdered 18 people Wednesday night in Lewiston, 15 miles from his Bowdoin home.
His abandoned car was found with a gun inside seven miles from Lewiston, near the city of Lisbon, on Wednesday evening, NBC News reported.
On Thursday it emerged that he may have been looking for his ex at the bowling alley and the bar where he opened fire.
And police sources told ABC News that he left a suicide note addressed to his son.
The note did not provide a motive for the mass shooting, the sources said.
There was previously significant police activity at the Bowdoin home, with a large police presence seen as early as 5 p.m.
A little more than an hour later, at 6:18 p.m., in the dark, a convoy of eight Maine State Police and FBI vehicles moved quickly down the narrow road by the property and exited the area.
These included an armored SWAT team vehicle and several black Chevrolet Suburban SUVs.
Shannon Moss, a spokesman for the Maine State Police, said the activity at the Bowdoin property was “part of the investigation” and said no shots were fired.
“Law enforcement is at a home in Bowdoin as part of the investigation into the Lewiston shooting and the search for Robert Card,” she said.
“Additional information will be released when appropriate.”
She added: “It is a tactical operation.”
But around 7:15 p.m., the FBI returned to the property.
A Maryland TAC team leaves a field after police surrounded a property in Bowdoin, Maine, believed to be connected to Lewiston shooting suspect Robert Card
Police vehicles leave the area near a home linked to mass shooting suspect Robert Card in Bowdoin, Maine, at 6:20 p.m. Thursday. About an hour later they were back
An armored vehicle was seen leaving the Card family property on Thursday evening
His sister told law enforcement that the 40-year-old Army Reserve firearms instructor may have targeted Schemengee’s Bar and Grille and the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston in hopes of finding his ex, ABC reported.
Court documents show that his ex-wife filed for divorce in 2007 and they were awarded joint custody of their child – but it is unclear whether she is his most recent ex-wife.
Card is still on the run and is considered armed and dangerous after carrying out the deadliest shooting of the year on Wednesday around 7 p.m. There are fears he may have escaped on a boat that belongs to him.
Ryan Koroknay, a Coast Guard spokesman, said a rescue boat crew was dispatched from Boothbay Harbor and a fixed-wing aircraft from Cape Cod was also assisting in the search effort.
Card owns a 12-foot Sea-Doo jet ski and previously registered a 15-foot Bayliner boat, The Sun Journal reported.
Koroknay would not say whether the Coast Guard was looking for a specific vessel.
The gunman opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, killing at least 18 people and wounding 13 others before fleeing.
As the multi-agency search for the armed fugitive enters its 22nd hour, cops have also discovered a cryptic note at his Bowdoin home.
An aerial view of police personnel at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant following deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine
Four law enforcement sources told NBC New York that police are considering the meaning of the letter.
Card was training with his unit in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York in July when his military commanders said they observed him behaving erratically.
In an updated statement, a U.S. Army spokesman said Card was not trained as a firearms instructor, as police originally reported.
He said Card’s unit trained at West Point this summer, but no records indicate Card attended that training.
According to the AP report, Card was taken to Keller Army Community Hospital for evaluation.
A police statement to law enforcement said he was in a mental health facility for two weeks this summer and reported hearing “voices and threats to shoot up the military base.”
No information about Card’s treatment or diagnosis was provided.