After officials revealed that the guy suspected of killing eighteen people at a restaurant and bowling alley earlier this week was discovered dead on Friday night, a wave of relief passed over a distraught community in Maine that had lived in fear for two days.
Robert Card, 40, was found dead next to a river, some ten miles from the devastated Lewiston neighborhood. According to the investigators, Card had self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
According to Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck, Card’s body was discovered inside a box trailer that was parked in the overflow lot of Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon. This information was revealed during a press conference on Saturday morning.
According to a law enforcement source who spoke with CNN, Card was just let go from the recycling center.
“There are locked trailers among those. Not all of those trailers are, according to Sauschuck. “He was discovered within a box that had been opened from the exterior.”
According to Sauschuck, two weapons were discovered next to Card’s body. Additionally, it appears that Card never changed into the sweater that was seen on camera during the shooting on Wednesday night. When he ended his life is unknown.
According to Sauschuck, the building was first examined and deemed to be clear; nevertheless, the proprietor of Maine Recycling pointed authorities toward other trailers that they were initially unaware belonged to the same recycling operation.
Following an approximately two-day manhunt, many residents of the peaceful, scenic neighborhood were on edge and afraid to leave their homes until the finding.
Governor Janet Mills of Maine expressed her relief, along with others, at the end of the manhunt and the associated anxiety.
At a press conference on Friday night, Mills remarked, “Like many others, I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight realizing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone.” “I am aware that many people, if not most people, feel that way, but I am also aware that many people may not find comfort in his passing.”
The community would be able to go on and start “a long and difficult road to healing – but we will heal together,” she said, thanks to the finding.
According to officials, gunshots were heard at Just-in-Time Recreation and then at Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston on Wednesday night, which sparked an extended manhunt. The ages of the 18 deceased, who were named by authorities on Friday, varied from 14 to 76. Among them were a boy bowling with his father, participants in a deaf cornhole competition, and a number of fathers who abandon small children. Authorities stated that 13 more people were hurt during the shooting spree.
A massacre survivor, whose cousin Tricia Asselin was killed in the shooting, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday night that while she was relieved the suspect was dead, she was also “sad because we have so many questions left unanswered” and that the “community itself can definitely move on with no the fear of him out there.”
According to Tammy Asselin, who had been separated from her 10-year-old daughter at the time of the shooting at Just-in-Time Recreation, her daughter is relieved that her dread of his being out there has been allayed by the news that he has been apprehended.
Card, a trained firearms instructor and US Army reservist, reportedly had significant training in both land navigation and weaponry, according to law enforcement sources. Someone who served with him identified him as one of his unit’s best shooters and a superb marksman.