The US state of Maine police said on Saturday that the man who opened fire inside a bowling alley and killed 18 people before committing suicide suffered from serious mental health problems, but was nonetheless able to purchase a gun legally since his record did not include undergoing psychiatric treatment.
Mike Sawchuk, Maine Public Safety Commissioner, announced that the body of Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, was found on Friday night, after he shot himself inside a tractor trailer near a recycling center where he worked.
Investigators are still trying to determine Card’s motives for committing Wednesday’s massacre in Lewiston.
Sawchuk said there were reports that Card was hearing voices and suffering from paranoia, adding to reporters, “There is clearly a mental health component to this.”
He added that investigators found a message Card left for a member of his family that included his phone password and information about his bank account, noting that its style suggested that its owner intended to commit suicide.
The police seized three weapons that Card purchased legally, because he was not forcibly admitted to a mental institution.
Sawchuk pointed out that although Card clearly suffers from mental problems, in addition to a psychological evaluation that he was said to have undergone and reported as such, “a background check will not indicate that this person is prohibited” from purchasing a weapon.
The discovery of Card’s body ended a two-day manhunt that led to the closure of the city of Lewiston, with a population of 38,000.
Sawchuk acknowledged the assistance provided by the Card family, saying: “This family has been incredibly cooperative with us.”
Wednesday’s toll is the worst in the United States since the Uvalde school shooting in Texas, where a man killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022.
The number of guns per person exceeds the population of the United States. More than 15,000 people have been killed in violence in which a firearm was used since the beginning of the year, not including suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The state of Maine has one of the lowest per capita murder rates in the country, and the 18 victims, according to the Everytown Association, constitute more than the annual rate of murders with a firearm there.
2023-10-28 20:37:39
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