Maine mass shooter Robert Card is seen in chilling footage telling state police “I’m capable,” after fellow troopers called 911 fearing he was “going to do something.”
Card, a reservist, killed 18 people and injured 13 at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston in October last year, sparking the largest manhunt in state history.
The body of Card, 40, was found at a recycling facility in Lisbon two days after the attacks, after he committed suicide.
Just a few months earlier, on July 16, police were called and Card was ordered to an Army facility to be hospitalized after his fellow soldiers became concerned about him.
The footage offers a chilling glimpse of Card after he became involved in an altercation and locked himself in his motel room, alarming reservists.
In newly released body camera footage, he can be heard telling state police, “You guys are scared because I’m going to do something.” Because I am capable.’
In police body camera footage recorded on July 16, Card is ordered to an Army facility to be hospitalized after his fellow soldiers became concerned about him.
The footage offers a chilling glimpse of Card after he became involved in an altercation and locked himself in his motel room, alarming reservists.
An officer can be heard investigating the comment and asking Card, “What do you mean by that?”
Card, looking agitated, sternly responds, “Nothing,” before being informed that he will be taken to a military hospital to speak to a counselor.
He can also be heard telling police in the footage that people were talking behind his back for about six months, sparking rumors that he was gay and a pedophile.
In the video, Card’s fellow reservists, whose names were redacted, expressed concern that he had lost weight and was “skin and bones.”
They also said his behavior had changed noticeably in six months, and a man who identified himself as Card’s first sergeant told officers “our concern is that he hurt himself or someone else.”
One of the reservists also described Card as a “gun nut” who spent $14,000 on a scope.
The reservist added: “I don’t know what he’s capable of. I’m not implying anything. But I’m just saying he has a lot of weapons.
Card was taken to Keller Army Hospital to be evaluated by his fellow reservists and ended up spending two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.
Initial investigations already found missed opportunities and red flags involving Card were rife, with reports revealing that colleagues and family repeatedly raised the alarm about threats he had made in the months leading up to the shooting.
Card legally purchased the .308-caliber Ruger assault rifle used in the Lewiston murders on July 6, less than two weeks before his actions led to his two-week hospitalization, Maine State Police said.
On October 25, 2023, Robert Card entered a bowling alley and then a bar in Lewiston Maine and shot dead 18 people before turning the gun on himself.
Card killed 18 people in the massacre (pictured), in what has become the deadliest mass shooting of 2023.
He was hospitalized after suffering several psychotic episodes and told his superiors that he had been hearing voices and threatening the base where he was stationed.
In May last year, police were alerted that Card had become paranoid and they were concerned about his access to weapons.
In August, he was banned from handling weapons while on duty and declared unfit for military deployment.
Then, in September, the reservists were so worried that he was about to kill that they told each other to “change the password” to the front door of their base in Saco.
A text from Sergeant Hudson reads: “Change unit door password and be armed if Sergeant First Class card arrives.” Please. I think he’s sick in the head.
And threaten the unit elsewhere. Love [him] to death but I don’t know how to help him and he refuses help.
“I’m afraid he’s going to ruin his life by hearing things he thinks he’s heard.” I left him because I was worried that his guns were still in the car…he still has all of his guns.’
These text messages sent by an Army reservist sergeant to his supervisor in September reveal the extent to which there were concerns about Robert Card.
In another, he said, “I think he’s going to break out and do a mass shooting.”
In Maine, a warning that Card might “shoot up” the Saco armory where his reserve unit was based led a Sagadahoc County deputy to try to meet with Card at his home in Bowdoin.
Card did not go to the door, even though he was believed to be inside, and the officer said he had no legal authority to break down the door and force a meeting to evaluate whether he should be placed in protective custody.
That step is necessary to activate Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which allows a judge to temporarily remove someone’s guns during a psychiatric health crisis.
The MP said an army officer suggested letting the situation “simmer” rather than forcing a confrontation. The deputy also received assurances from Card’s family that his access to guns would be taken away.
In the end, Card was never confronted, and the shootout he undertook became the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history.
A commission is currently investigating possible missed opportunities that could have prevented the shooting, and a written report is expected in the coming months.
In December, a 93-page independent report found that the Maine sheriff’s office’s response to concerns about Card’s deteriorating mental health was “reasonable.”
A warning that Card might “shoot up” the Saco armory where his reserve unit was located led a Sagadahoc County deputy to attempt to meet with Card at his home in Bowdoin, as seen here.
Card killed 18 people and injured 13 in October last year, sparking the largest manhunt in state history.
A makeshift memorial lines Main Street, Friday, November 3, 2023, Lewiston, Maine
Liz Seal, who lost her husband, Josh, in the shooting and is now raising four children alone, called the videos “disturbing.”
“They show that there were clear warning signs that Card posed a risk to others, and yet the system failed to ensure that his weapons were taken away,” he said.
Travis Brennan, an attorney for some of the victims, said the video corroborates concerns about the broader failures of the police, legal and mental health systems to take guns away from Card.
On Friday, Brennan said: “His peers in the reserves were so concerned about his behavior and the things he said that they didn’t feel safe with him having weapons on the military base and didn’t want to train with him.” .
“But somehow the system allowed him to go out into the community and still have access to his guns.”
Ben Gideon, another attorney for the victims, said the police video shows there was a ‘command directive’ for Card to be evaluated and that made his psychiatric hospitalization ‘mandatory and involuntary,’ and that he should not have had access to weapons under federal law. , regardless of New York’s red flag law and Maine’s yellow flag law.