Police: Maine gunman may have targeted businesses over delusions they were disparaging him online
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By The Associated Press
LEWISTON, Maine — Maine State Police documents released Tuesday shed light on why a delusional U.S. Army reservist who killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston may have targeted those locations.
Robert Card, 40, was found dead Friday, two days after a rampage that also wounded 13 people and shut down multiple communities during a massive search on land and water.
Three hours after the shooting began, state police interviewed a woman who said Card believed the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, Schemengees Bar and Grille, and several other businesses were “broadcasting online that Robert was a pedophile.”
The woman said Card had been delusional since February after a break-up, had been hospitalized for mental illness, and prescribed medication that he stopped taking, according to a police affidavit filed in support of an arrest warrant request.
Lewiston shootings Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings A sign advises residents to stay home, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, following a mass shooting at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine. Police continue to search for the suspect. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings This photo released by the Lewiston Maine Police Department shows Robert Card, who police have identified as a person of interest in connection to mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. ( Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP) (AP)
Lewiston shootings In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large. (Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP) (AP)
Lewiston shootings In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large. (Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP) (AP)
Lewiston shootings In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large. (Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP) (AP)
Lewiston shootings This photo released by the Lewiston, Maine, Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, shows a vehicle police are seeking information on in connection to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine. (Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP) (AP)
Lewiston shootings A law enforcement officer carries a rifle outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings People depart an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center, past a member of security, behind right, during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings People stand outside a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine, after shootings Wednesday at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings A woman is hugged by a man at a reunification center at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via AP) (Derek Davis/AP)
Lewiston shootings Law enforcement gather outside Schemengee's Bar and Grille, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shooting at the bar. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings A member of security, center right, stands at an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Steven Senne/AP)
Lewiston shootings A sign signals the public to shelter in place during an active shooter situation on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via AP) (Derek Davis/AP)
Lewiston shootings A police officer walks along a rural road during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine. The shootings took place at a restaurant and bowling alley in nearby Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: A police officer blocks access to the road to Sparetime Recreation on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the mass shooting, Robert Card, who killed over 15 people in two separate shootings. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: A police officer blocks access to the road to Sparetime Recreation on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the mass shooting, Robert Card, who killed over 15 people in two separate shootings. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: The side of Sparetime Recreation on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the mass shooting, Robert Card, who killed over 15 people in two separate shootings. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: Law enforcement officials investigate outside the Schemengees Bar and Grille on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the mass shooting, Robert Card, who killed over 15 people in two separate shootings. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: A police officer blocks access to the road to Sparetime Recreation on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the mass shooting, Robert Card, who killed over 15 people in two separate shootings. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings Three vehicles transport the victims killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. The restaurant was the site of one of the two mass shootings in Lewiston on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: Maine Governor Janet Mills speaks during a press conference about the mass shooting on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the shooting, Robert Card, who allegedly killed 18 people in two separate locations. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Lewiston shootings LEWISTON, MAINE - OCTOBER 26: Jodie Cohen, Special Agent in charge of the FBI's Boston branch, gives an update during a press conference about the mass shooting on October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Police are still searching for the suspect in the shooting, Robert Card, who allegedly killed 18 people in two separate locations on Wednesday night. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Police also spoke to Robert’s brother, who said Card had been in a relationship with someone he met at a cornhole competition at the bar. Another man said the same thing to a different officer, according to an affidavit filed in a request to access Card’s cell phone records.
That man told police he had been to both the bowling alley and bar with Card, and that Card knew people at both locations. He said Card’s girlfriend had two daughters that he would take out to eat at Schemengees, “and that is where the pedophile thing in Robert’s head came from as Robert was there with (his girlfriend’s) two daughters on occasions and felt that people were looking at him.”
The man said Card also mentioned bar manager Joey Walker was one of the people who Card thought had disparaged him. Walker was among those killed.
Card’s son also told police that paranoia about strangers calling him a pedophile had become a recurring theme for his father since last winter.
He also accused fellow members of his Army reserve unit of calling him a pedophile in an incident in July that prompted Army officials to have him undergo a mental health evaluation. He then spent two weeks at a private psychiatric hospital in New York.