Maine mass shooting: Suspect Robert Card treated at mental health facility for reportedly hearing voices
BOWDOIN CENTER, MAINE: Robert Card, a military-trained gun instructor who was recently committed to a mental health facility, has been recognized as a person of interest in a mass killing that occurred in Maine, according to a state police alert.
Robert spent two weeks in a mental health center in the summer of 2023, according to the document. The document released by the Maine Information and Analysis Center did not go into specifics about his illness or course of treatment.
Additionally, according to the document, Robert had threatened to carry out a shooting at the military training camp in Saco, Maine, and had claimed to have heard voices.
22 killed, dozens wounded in Maine Mass Shooting
A shooting in a Maine community that took place over two places on October 25 resulted in at least 22 fatalities and 30 injuries, according to Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich, who cited a law enforcement source.
While Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck stated during a press conference on Wednesday night that the situation is still "very fluid," a law enforcement source informed Heinrich that there are 22 fatalities.
According to the authorities, Robert needs to be regarded as "armed and dangerous."
The Lewiston Police Department said on Facebook that they were "attempting to locate Robert Card 4/4/1983, as a person of interest regarding the mass shooting at Schemengees Bar and Sparetime Recreation this evening. Card should be considered armed and dangerous. Please contact law enforcement if you are aware of his whereabouts."
The Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant and Sparetime Recreation are the two venues where the active shooting events took place, according to the Lewiston Police Department.
Lewiston, a 36,000-person community 35 miles north of Portland, is the scene of an active shooting scenario, according to a Facebook post made by the Maine State Police at 8 pm.
Central Maine Medical Center, a nearby hospital, stated that they are responding to a "mass casualty, mass shooter event." The hospital stated that they were unable to disclose the precise number of victims as of 9 pm.
"Central Maine Healthcare is coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients," the institution stated.
The suspect, shown in two images released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, was dressed in a brown sweater and carrying a gun.
Lewiston locals were advised by the authorities to "shelter in place" and "stay inside [their] home with the doors locked."
Shelter in place ordered, schools closed amid search for Maine mass shooter
Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck stated that Lisbon, which is located about seven miles southeast of Lewiston, is currently under a shelter-in-place order, which still applies to Lewiston.
In order to accommodate patients who were shot in Lewiston, Maine Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center, increased its capacity for critical care and operating rooms, the hospital announced in a statement.
"Out of an abundance of caution and due to the dynamic nature of this situation, MMC and other MaineHealth hospitals have closed their campuses to non-hospital personnel and non-patients until further notice," the institution stated, per NBC.
"MaineHealth and Maine Medical Center express their deepest sympathies to those impacted by this tragedy," it read.