Mass shooter's last moments shared by chief medical examiner after 18 killed
The Army reservist who shot a number of people inside a bowling alley and a bar was alive and potentially on the run during the majority of the following search.
This is according to the conclusion from the state medical examiner's office, which was released on Friday.
Robert Card died from a self-inflicted gunshot that "likely" took place eight to 12 hours before his body was discovered, states time-of-death analysis from officials. The conclusion was revealed one week after his body was identified in the back of a tractor-trailer on the property of his former employer, at a recycling centre.
The October 25 shootings in Lewiston, Maine, killed 18 people and wounded thirteen more, with tens of thousands of area residents sheltered at home behind locked doors, with hundreds of law enforcement officers scouring the area in search of the man. He made a run for it in a vehicle which was discovered discarded by the waterfront of a town closeby.
However, law enforcement agencies were criticised for not finding Card's body sooner. It was assumed that he had taken his own life in the hours following the shooting, with his body overlooked in former searches.
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The mass shooter responsible for killing at least 22 people in Lewiston, Maine, was Card (Lewiston Police Department/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)Nevertheless, the time of death - provided by the state's chief medical examiner, Dr Mark Flomebaum - indicates that the 40-year-old was alive and possibly on the go for more than 24 hours following the killings.
Card experienced a condition in which his head emptied of blood following the gunshot wound, impacting the way it settled in his body and possibly making the time of death less certain. This is according to Lindsey Chasteen, office administrator of medical examiner’s office in Augusta.
On Friday, a state police spokesperson had no further comment to add. The update on the investigation took place on the same day that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Lewiston to give their respects and meet with victims.
Police conducted a two-day search before he was found dead (CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Biden visited the bowling alley where Card first opened fire and said: "Jill and I have done too many of these". It turns out that Card had been known to law enforcement for months because family members and others were increasingly concerned about his mental wellbeing.
The situation heightened after an altercation with other Army Reserve members, and Card and several others from the Army Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Unit were in New York for training on July 15 when he told several of them that he was a pedophile, pushed one of them and locked himself in his motel. Worries about his mental health prompted a 14-day hospitalisation at the Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, New York.
Concerns continued when he returned to Maine, as one of his fellow reservists begged a superior to alter the passcode to the gate and possess a gun if he came to the Army Reserve drill center in Saco, Maine. In a text, the reservist said: "I believe he's going to snap and do a mass shooting."
Twice, a deputy visited Card's house in Bowdoin, asking for backup on the second visit, however Card refused to come to the door. Under Maine's "yellow flag" law, officers can try to put someone in temporary protective custody and start the process of removing the person's access to guns.
However, it didn't happen. According to a sheriff, deputies who went to Card for a wellness check didn't have legal authority to break in and capture Card.
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