Maine suspect found dead after deadliest U.S. shooting of 2023
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Police officers block traffic after the suspect was found dead in Lisbon, Maine, on Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Investigators have found the body of the person suspected of perpetrating dual mass shootings that left 18 dead and more than a dozen injured in Maine, officials confirmed Friday night.
The latest: Police found Robert Card, 40, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 7:45 pm Friday, officials said. The discovery ended a two-day manhunt that followed the deadliest U.S. mass shooting so far this year.
- Investigators found Card's body in a trailer about 10 miles from the city of Lewiston, where the shootings took place, Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said at a press briefing Saturday morning.
- The trailer was in an overflow parking lot at a recycling facility, Sauschuck said.
- The 18 people who were killed, ranging from ages 14 to 76, were identified by state authorities Friday.
The big picture: The shootings led to lockdowns in surrounding communities as both local and federal authorities combed through hundreds of tips and searched around the clock for Card, a U.S. Army reservist.
- On Friday, Card's vehicle was found near a boat launch, prompting plans to search the nearby Androscoggin River.
- Sauschuck said Saturday that investigators found two firearms at the scene of Card's body, and that a third firearm was found in his vehicle.
Zoom in: "I think clearly, there's a mental health component to this," Sauschuck said when asked about a potential motive, but said he wasn't aware of Card having been "forcibly committed" to treatment previously and that authorities continue to investigate.
- He noted that the "vast majority" of people with a mental health diagnosis do not become violent toward others or themselves.
- He also said Card's family had been "incredibly cooperative" in the investigation.
Background: Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday evening posted to Facebook images of a suspect carrying what looked like a semiautomatic rifle following the shootings at Schemengees Bar and a bowling alley known as Sparetime Recreation, but recently renamed Just-In-Time Recreation.
- President Biden was briefed on the situation and offered federal assistance to Maine's governor, per a White House statement.
- The FBI's Boston division, which covers Maine, was also investigating the shooting.
Details: "Police have confirmed that there were seven people killed at Sparetime Recreation, and eight people killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille," per a Maine State Police statement Thursday.
- Three others died in Central Maine Medical Hospital in Lewiston after being transported for treatment, according to the statement.
- The City of Lewiston in a Facebook post on Wednesday just before midnight ET urged all non-emergency personnel to "stay at home," and said that all municipal buildings would close, and programs and events were canceled.
- The superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools announced in a post to X earlier Wednesday evening that schools in the city of over 38,000 residents would not open on Thursday. They remained closed Friday.
- School districts beyond the locked down counties also shut in Maine Thursday, including Portland and Augusta.
- All Bureau of Motor Vehicle branches in Maine closed Thursday, and all government offices in Lewiston and Auburn were shut Friday amid the police search.
Go deeper: U.S. surpasses 500 mass shootings in 2023
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional developments throughout.
Axios' April Rubin contributed reporting.
