Relatives of the victims of Maine mass murderer Robert Card expressed relief at his death Friday evening, with some expressing sadness over the “unanswered questions.”
The body of Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, was found around 7:45 p.m. Friday near a recycling plant from which he had recently been discharged.
This location near the city of Lisbon was where his abandoned car was found Wednesday night, shortly after he shot 18 people at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston.
Robert Young’s brother Bill, 44, and his nephew Aaron were killed at the bowling alley.
Fourteen-year-old Aaron was the youngest of Card’s 18 victims.
Young, who said he and his brother were at school with the shooter and played on the same baseball team, said the family was relieved by the news of Card’s death.
Bill Young and his 14-year-old son Aaron were both pronounced dead Thursday
Robert Young, Bill’s brother and Aaron’s uncle, said the family was shocked by the news but relieved by Card’s death
Robert Card, 40, was found dead Friday. He was at school with Robert Young, whose brother and nephew he murdered
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
Young said they didn’t want to witness a harrowing trial and potentially see Card suffer a nervous breakdown, be spared prison time and sent to a psychiatric facility.
Young told CNN, “It gives us a sense of closure as a family because we don’t have to worry about him hurting anyone else.”
“And it kind of gives us a sense of justice. ‘He’s not here anymore.’
Young was asked by host Laura Coates if he would have preferred to see Card go to trial, but he said his family didn’t want that.
He said they felt Card’s actions were inexplicable.
“I don’t think you would ever get a why,” Young said.
“I don’t think there’s a why to why you shot innocent people, a 14-year-old boy.”
“My family had no problem with Robbie Card.”
“We really don’t know him.
“So no ‘why’ would ever bring my brother and nephew back, you know.”
Bill Young (pictured left) and his 14-year-old son Aaron (pictured right) were shot at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley
Bill Young and his son Aaron were shot and killed at a bowling alley in Maine on Wednesday evening
Bill Young (far right) and his son Aaron Young (front center) were both shot in Lewiston by Robert Card
Card is said to have studied engineering at the University of Maine between 2001 and 2004 and then worked at a recycling plant. But from July onwards he suffered from psychological episodes and had to be hospitalized
Young said he didn’t really know the shooter, but he was at school with Card’s brother and Card was a grade below them.
He added: “We didn’t want to go through a trial.” We didn’t want to see all the grisly details.
“And, you know, sometimes things are like that – if he’s in a mental institution, he might get an insanity plea and never see a day in prison. “We just never know how it’s all going to work out. At least for our family, that’s about the outcome we wanted.”
Young said he and his family were “still in shock.”
He was in Baltimore at the time of the shooting and his sister was in Massachusetts – they all ran to the scene.
They only found out that Bill and Aaron were dead when state troopers arrived at their home around 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Young said Bill’s wife, Aaron’s mother, was distraught.
“There’s nothing you can do to prepare for this,” Young said.
“Cindy, Bill’s wife and Aaron’s mother, she lost everything.”
“Her son was her whole world, and my brother was her best friend and soulmate.” And they were both taken away.
“They said goodbye, he went to the bowling alley and he never sees her again.”
Tammy Asselin, who survived the bowling alley shooting but lost her cousin Tricia Asselin, said her emotions were mixed when she heard of Card’s death.
Tricia Asselin, 53, the second confirmed victim, was a part-time employee at Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston. She was playing bowling when the gunman came in and opened fire
Tricia Asselin was shot while calling 911 to alert emergency services to the mass shooting, her brother said
“It’s a relief that the community itself can definitely carry on without fear of him out there, but it’s also sad because we have so many unanswered questions,” she told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, holding back tears.
Tammy Asselin’s cousin Tricia worked at the bowling alley where she was killed.
Asselin was separated from her 10-year-old daughter when the shooting began.
When the little girl was asked how she felt, she just shook her head and refused to say anything.
“I know it gives my daughter some peace knowing he was caught because she was scared of him still being out there,” Tammy said.
Card was found near Lisbon Falls, where his car was abandoned shortly after Wednesday’s massacre. His body was reportedly found near a recycling plant from which he was recently released.
It was unclear how long he had been dead, and Mike Sauschuck, the commander of the Maine Department of Public Safety, would not say whether he had died as police approached or had been dead for days.
“There is still a lot of work to be done here locally and there is still a lot to be done,” Sauschuck said.
Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, said she was “breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Card is no longer a threat to anyone.”
Multiple news outlets are reporting that 40-year-old Robert Card was found dead. Card is accused of killing 18 people in a series of shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening
All 18 victims of the mass shooting in Maine have been identified
Sauschuck confirmed that he probably died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He added that a ban on hunting in the area has now been lifted. Saturday marks the start of deer hunting season and is an important date on the Maine calendar.
The White House released a statement saying the last two days had been “tragic” for the entire country.
“These have been two tragic days – not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country,” President Joe Biden said in a statement released Friday.
“Once again, an American community and American families have been devastated by gun violence.”
“In total, at least eighteen souls were brutally killed, others were injured, some critically, and dozens of family members and friends prayed and experienced a trauma that no one can imagine.”
“Numerous brave police officers worked around the clock to find this suspect and prevent the loss of further innocent lives – all at the risk of their own.” They are the best of us.
“Tonight we are grateful that Lewiston and the surrounding communities are safe after spending painful days hiding in their homes.”
“I thank Governor Janet Mills for her steady leadership during this time of crisis and continue to direct my administration to provide whatever is needed to support the people of Maine.”
“Americans shouldn’t have to live like this.” I once again call on Republicans in Congress to live up to their commitment to keeping the American people safe. Until that day comes, I will continue to do everything in my power to end this epidemic of gun violence.
“The Lewiston community – and all Americans – deserve nothing less.”
The shelter-in-place order was lifted Friday, before the discovery of Card’s body was announced.
Meanwhile, cell phones throughout the Lewiston area began ringing with a security alert shortly after the news broke: “The search for Mr. Card is over.” The caution is over. The hunt can resume.’
Maine Gov. Janet Mills said Friday evening that she was “breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Card is no longer a threat to anyone.”
She added: “Tonight, the city of Lewiston and the people of Maine begin a long healing process – but we will heal together.”
Eighteen people died when Card, an Army reservist who had recently suffered a nervous breakdown, opened fire at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston.
Card fled, abandoning his car and cellphone and sparking a 48-hour manhunt.
“I’m so glad this nightmare is over,” said John Riordan, who lives near the crime scene.
He told the Sun Journal: “Hopefully the families can find some closure.” “It will be nice to get back to a state of normality.”
There were 29 murders across the state last year, and the shooting shocked rural residents.
Police officers stand near a recycling plant where Card’s body was reportedly found, eight miles from Lewiston
Susan Collins issued a statement thanking law enforcement for their efforts
Susan Collins, a senator for Maine, said she was informed by Joe Biden that Card was dead.
“When President Biden called me this evening to inform me that the perpetrator of the heinous attacks in Lewiston had been found, we both expressed our deep appreciation for the courage and determination of these brave men and women.”
Sauschuck said he first called the Card family and thanked them for their cooperation.
Search crews focused their efforts Friday on a river near Lisbon, where Card was known to moor his boat and jet ski.
On Thursday, there were multiple raids on the homes of Card’s parents and brother in the town of Bowdoin.
Police confirmed on Thursday that a suicide note addressed to his son was found in his home.
Card spent 20 years in the Army Reserves and was an avid hunter and fisherman.
His marksmanship and survival skills made him a dangerous opponent for those trying to track him down, and residents were ordered to stay indoors from Wednesday night through Friday evening.
A picture of Card’s disturbed mental state quickly emerged.
He had been laid off from his job at a recycling plant, Maine Recycling, and had recently separated from his partner.
Police officers are seen searching for Card in the Lisbon and Lewiston area on Friday
A colleague at a recycling plant told The Daily Beast that he had behaved “violently and strangely” toward co-workers over the past year.
“When I saw it was him, I wasn’t surprised,” Jeremy Bowen, who was Card’s driver-helper at Maine Recycling, told The Daily Beast on Thursday.
“Many of the other aid workers he worked with began to say that he was behaving violently and strangely.
‘I have heard of that [the shootings] in the news, and like I said, I really wasn’t surprised.’
He was jailed for two weeks in July after he said he heard voices and threatened to open fire on his military base.
His sister-in-law, Katie Card, said he was fitted with hearing aids and was convinced he could hear people talking about him at the bowling alley and at the bar he would later attack.
“He really believed that he heard people saying things,” she told The Daily Beast.
“All of this just happened in the last few months.”
She said he would become “angry” if he was told that the voices he “overheard” at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and Schemenges Bar and Grill were only in his head.
“Things have kind of gone downhill lately,” Card told the Beast.
“We tried to listen to him and tell him that no one was talking about him.”
“Yesterday, when the story was unfolding, we were praying that Rob had nothing to do with it. “But when we heard about the two locations where the shooting took place, my husband rushed home.”