LEWISTON, Maine — Authorities announced Thursday an arrest warrant has been issued for Robert Card, 40, following Wednesday's attack at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine. At least 18 people were killed and several others were injured, officials said.
Who is Robert Card?
Card was initially identified as a "person-of-interest," but authorities confirmed an arrest warrant has now been issued for several counts of murder.
Card was initially described as a firearms instructor who had enlisted in the Army Reserve in Dec. 2002 and was assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. The Army said Thursday that Card never served as a firearms instructor in the Army.
"While his unit supported West Point summer training in July of 2023, there are no records to indicate he instructed or participated in any training," Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee said in a statement. "The Army did not train SFC Card as a firearms instructor, nor did he serve in that capacity for the Army."
A police bulletin, circulated to law enforcement officials, said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition, but said Card had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
A U.S. official later told The Associated Press commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment became concerned in mid-July that Robert Card was acting erratically while the unit was training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.
The official said military commanders became concerned about Card’s safety and asked for the police to be called. New York state police took Card to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point for evaluation, the official said.
Card attended the University of Maine from 2001-2004 as an engineering student but did not graduate from the school, a university spokesperson confirmed to News Center Maine.
The Army confirmed that Sgt. 1st Class Robert R. Card II is a Petroleum Supply Specialist in the Army Reserve and has no combat deployments.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office released two photos of the suspect on its Facebook page that showed the shooter walking into an establishment with a weapon raised to his shoulder.
Where did the Maine shooting take place?
Lewiston Police said they were dealing with an active shooter incident at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley about 4 miles away. A number of parents and children were at Sparetime as part of a children’s bowling league.
The bowling alley is about 2 miles north of the Bates College campus, on the outskirts of downtown, and offers traditional tenpin bowling and candlepin, a variant found in New England.
Lewiston is the second-largest city in Maine with a population of 37,000. It emerged as a major center for African immigration into Maine. The Somali population, which numbers in the thousands, has changed the demographics of the once overwhelmingly white mill city into one of the most diverse in northern New England.
Maine has a longstanding culture of gun ownership tied to traditions of hunting and sport shooting. The state doesn’t require permits to carry guns.
The apparent death toll was staggering for a state that in 2022 had 29 homicides the entire year.