Maine police today admitted they have no idea where mentally ill gunman Robert Card is, as the manhunt for him entered its second day and schools remained closed in the town where he slaughtered 18 people on Wednesday night.
Card, who is described by family as ‘schizophrenic’ and who thought his hearing aids allowed him to hear people ‘bashing him’, has been on the run since Wednesday night, when he targeted a deaf cornhole tournament and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
Despite an influx of hundreds of FBI agents, state troopers and local police officers, law enforcement remains completely in the dark when it comes to finding him.
At a briefing today, Commissioner for Maine Public Safety Michael Sauschuck said police ‘clearly’ did not know where Card was.
Flustered under the questions of dozens of journalists, he threatened to leave the briefing and asked for ‘patience’ while cops try to find Card, an Army reservist who is considered ‘armed and dangerous’.
At a briefing today, Commissioner for Maine Public Safety Michael Sauschuck said police ‘clearly’ did not know where Card was and became frustrated with journalists as they demanded answers to questions
Law enforcement personnel approach a home in Monmouth, Maine, on October 27, 2023, in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Lewiston
Law enforcement personnel search a wooded area in Monmouth, Maine, on October 27, 2023
Ghost-town Lewiston: Schools, stores and most businesses in Lewiston remain closed today while police search for Robert Card
Card, a US Army reserve soldier, launched the initial attack at a bowling alley (pictured) at around 6.56pm then struck again at bar and restaurant four miles away just 12 minutes later
This is how the shooting unfolded in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night. Card remains on the run, but his vehicle was found at a boat launch in Lisbon
‘As soon as you start yelling, I am done,’ Sauschuck said, after saying the police would not be ‘rushed’. He refused to answer questions about the specifics of a suicide note left by Card for his son, and also refused to confirm whether the suspect’s family was assisting in the investigation.
Card’s vehicle – a white Suburu station wagon – was found at a boat ramp on the Androscoggin River. Today, divers will begin searching the water for any sign of him.
Card, 40, was described by relatives as being ‘schizophrenic’
‘Clearly we don’t have him in custody… we don’t want to wait too long and the river is a big piece of this, his car was located there. So we want to make sure we’re checking it and using our expertise and resources.’
A power company that operates two dams in the river have agreed to slow the current to facilitate an easier search for dive teams.
Card lived in the small town of Bowdoin, close to homes owned by his parents and his brother and sister-in-law.
One neighbor told The Messenger that the Card family’s arrangement was ‘basically a compound’, and he and his relatives were all ‘gun-toting enthusiasts’.
‘They would shoot guns all the time, you could hear them every day after school. It was like clockwork,’ said Liam Kent.
He said he once saw Card ‘covered in blood with a gun on his back, a giant grin on his face’ after going deer hunting.
The boat launch in Lisbon is where officers are focusing their search today. The suspect’s car was found there on Wednesday night
The bar was the second shooting location. A group of deaf friends were there participating in a corn hole tournament
Marko Galbreath, a former Florida police sergeant and SWAT team member, told .com that Card could have traveled anywhere – and the whole country must be vigilant.
‘He could still be in that area, planning to have a shootout with police, planning to commit suicide, planning to commit another attack. Or, you know what, he could be in Texas right now. We have no idea.
‘If he planned it out well enough, he could very well be far from that area right now,’ said Galbreath, who provides active shooter response training through his company T4Tactics.
‘We need to tell the entire country that until this guy is captured, we need to use due diligence.’
He added: ‘He could have shaved, he could have put on a wig, he may change his appearance. He he may not look like what people think he looks like, so we need to really watch.’
He is understood to have studied engineering at the University of Maine between 2001 and 2004
The Card family home in Bowdoin is pictured above. It is the suspect’s last known address
Galbreath added that Card’s military training would have also provided a survival ‘skillset and mindset’ which would have taught how to ‘live in an environment that’s not comfortable’.
Card is believed to have joined the military reserve in 2002.
A bulletin sent to police across the country after the attack said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks this past summer after ‘hearing voices and threats to shoot up’ a military base.
A US official said Card was training with the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in West Point, New York, when commanders became concerned about him.
Galbreath said Card’s history of mental illness meant he could have taken his own life somewhere secluded to ‘keep the fear going’ among the public.
Robert Carlson, a law enforcement officer and firearms instructor who founded the Brave Defender Training Group in Memphis, told .com that Card’s military history means he has ‘the same, if not even a possibly higher level of, training and experience as the responding officers’.
‘It does most significantly add an increased level of danger when you have somebody that has some sort of level of training or familiarity with tactics and weapons,’ he said.
Carlson said it is important law enforcement provide information so that ‘that the public is aware of not only their risk, but also so that they can aid law enforcement in attempting to identify or spot that individual’.
The search has included forests, waterways and small towns around the rural areas in Maine where the shootings took place.
Schools, doctor’s offices and grocery stores closed and people stayed behind locked doors in cities as far away as 50 miles from the scenes of the shootings.
On Thursday evening at 7:20pm, FBI agents were heard using a bullhorn outside a house and saying: ‘Come out with your hands up.’
It was unclear who they were talking to, if anyone.
Card, his parents and his brother and sister-in-law all live in the area.
The police began withdrawing at 8:42pm, and by 9pm the final convoy – among them Maryland State Police – exited the scene. A helicopter, from New Hampshire State Police, also left.
A series of four loud bangs were heard on Thursday evening near this Bowdoin, Maine home connected to Robert Card. Police have not yet confirmed what the noises were or who was home
The agents, using a bullhorn, had told a person to come towards them, and asked if anyone else was inside. Helicopters were overhead, and drones.
It was unclear if anyone was inside the house.
Connor Clemente, a reporter with local news channel WMTWTV, said he heard the FBI ordering Card himself to come out of the house.
He tweeted that he heard: ‘Robert Card, you’re under arrest. We know you’re inside, come out with your hands up, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.’
Maine state police said that the orders to ‘come out with your hands up’ were ‘standard’, and refused to comment on who was inside.
‘The announcements that are being heard over a loud speaker are standard search warrant announcements when executing a warrant to ensure the safety of all involved,’ said Shannon Moss, a spokesman for Maine state police.
‘It is unknown whether Robert Card is in any of the homes law enforcement will search.
‘Law enforcement officials are simply doing their due diligence by tracking down every lead in an effort to locate and apprehend Card.’
Card, 40, has been on the run since murdering 18 people on Wednesday night in Lewiston, 15 miles from his Bowdoin home.
His abandoned car was found on Wednesday night seven miles from Lewiston, near the town of Lisbon.
A Maryland TAC team walk out out of a field after law enforcement surrounded a property in Bowdoin, Maine, believed to be connected to Lewiston shooting suspect Robert Card
Law enforcement vehicles leave the area near a home connected to mass-shooting suspect Robert Card in Bowdoin, Maine on Thursday at 6:20pm. They were back around an hour later
An armored vehicle is seen leaving the property connected to the Card family on Thursday night
His sister told law enforcement officials the 40-year-old Army reserve firearms instructor could have targeted Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston in the hope of finding his ex, ABC reported.
Court documents show his ex-wife filed for divorce in 2007 and they were granted joint custody of their child – though it’s unclear whether she is his most recent ex.
Card is still on the run and considered armed and dangerous after he carried out the year’s deadliest shooting at around 7pm on Wednesday. It’s feared he may have fled on a boat he owns.
Ryan Koroknay, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said a response boat crew has been dispatched from Boothbay Harbor, and a fixed wing plane from Cape Cod is also assisting with search efforts.
Card owns a 12-foot Sea Doo Jet Ski and previously registered a 15-foot Bayliner boat, The Sun Journal reported.
Koroknay would not say whether the Coast Guard was looking for any particular vessel.
An aerial view of law enforcement personnel at the Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant after deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine
Opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, the gunman killed at least 18 people while injuring 13 more before fleeing. As the multi-agency search for the armed fugitive enters its 22nd hour, cops have also uncovered a cryptic note at his Bowdoin home.
Four law enforcement sources told NBC New York that police are poring over the meaning of the letter.
Card was training with his unit in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York in July, when his military commanders said they observed him acting erratically.
In an updated statement, a U.S. Army spokesperson said Card was not trained as a firearms instructor, as police had originally reported.