The suicide note of Maine’s deadliest shooter has been revealed as part of the release of 3,000 files exposing gruesome details of the attack.
Robert Card killed 18 people and injured 13 during the rampage at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar in October last year.
The spree sparked a major search for Card, 40, who was found dead in his car two days after the massacre.
Now his final handwritten words have been made public, showing his distraught state of mind.
“Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story,” Card wrote. “I guess I just wanted to play cornhole with my sexy girlfriend and be left alone.”
The suicide note of Maine’s deadliest shooter has been revealed as part of the release of 3,000 files exposing gruesome details of the attack.
Robert Card killed 18 people and injured 13 during the rampage at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar in October last year.
Card had recently been abandoned by his partner, who was supposed to be playing in a bowling league on the same field where he opened fire, according to an FBI profile included in the installment, the Boston Globe reports.
The profile states that she was not there at the time of the attack, “but she easily could have been.”
The documents also revealed harrowing information about the immediate aftermath of the attack, as officers pursuing the suspect described having to walk past dying victims as they called for help.
“They grab our legs and try to stop us, but we can’t help them,” wrote Lewiston Officer Keith Caouette. “We have to get through and keep searching and hope they’re alive when we get back.”
He told a man lying on the ground to “hold on,” but when he returned, the man was dead.
Another police officer’s first instinct was that an act of domestic terrorism had been committed, underlined by the heavy police presence and flashing blue lights.
“It really felt like we were at war,” Auburn Lt. Steven Gosselin wrote.
Others described the horrific scenes inside the bowling alley and bar and grill.
Card killed 18 people in the massacre (pictured), in what has become Maine’s deadliest mass shooting.
A police officer’s first instinct was that an act of domestic terrorism had been committed.
Cell phones rang on bloody tables as tablecloths and a pool table cover were turned into makeshift stretchers.
“A quick scan of the building revealed blood and flesh scattered throughout the business,” Lewiston Detective Zachary Provost wrote of the bowling alley.
“I could also smell the strong smell of gunpowder mixed with burning flesh.”
At the peak, the police presence was immense with 16 SWAT teams and officers from 14 different agencies, along with eight additional helicopters and planes, and an underwater recovery team, State Police Lt. Tyler Stevenson wrote.
“I have experienced several large-scale manhunts in my career, but this was by far the largest manhunt I have ever participated in,” he wrote.
Officers used lasers to map shooting scenes, recorded Tracfone purchases at a Walmart in case Card had a burner phone, and even recovered data from the infotainment system of Card’s Subaru.
Someone who played cornhole with the shooter spoke to police about Card and described him as being “in his own little world, but not in a bad or uncomfortable way.”
Card was an Army reservist who had been acting increasingly erratically in the months leading up to the shooting.
A law enforcement officer mans a checkpoint next to Sparetime Recreation, one of two locations where the mass shooter targeted.
On September 16, police attempted to speak with Card at his home but received no response. They did not enact the state’s “yellow flag” laws that allow officers to remove weapons from vulnerable people.
In March, a state commission called it a clear failure, although Sagadahoc Sheriff Joel Merry insists his team acted appropriately based on the information they had.
On October 19, Card had begun hearing voices, according to a report from a person who worked at a store where he delivered bread.
The report said Card knew the voices were talking about him and “maybe you’re the ones I’m angry at.”
In addition to the chaotic scene immediately after the shooting, police also had to deal with pranksters hindering their investigation.
This included false tips and a person claiming to be Card by speaking through an audio filter on TikTok.
The trove of documents was posted on Friday before the website crashed. Maine officials said they should be available again at 5 p.m. Monday.