AUGUSTA, Maine — Details about the firearm used in the Lewiston mass shootings were reveled during Maine State Police testimony in front of the independent commission tasked with investigating last October's tragedy.
Police said Robert Card used a Ruger SFAR the night of Oct. 25, when he killed 18 people and injured 13 more at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille. The gun was located in his vehicle, which law enforcement found in Lisbon hours just after the shootings.
Bullets and cartridges found at both shooting scenes matched the gun found in the car. Six magazines containing .308 cartridges, a scope and laser light was also discovered in the car.
Card purchased the rifle at Fine Line Gun Shop in the Androscoggin County town of Poland just days before he entered a psychiatric hospital in New York, according to police. The gun shop declined to comment Friday after an employee spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine.
A handgun also was recovered from the trailer where Card's body was found, according to police. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta determined Card's cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death to be suicide.
Sgt. Chris Farley, the supervisor of Major Crimes South, said Thursday that the agency recovered Card's cellphone and discovered he wrote a note three days before the shootings, saying he's having issues, he's had enough, and he's trained to hurt people.
State police first heard complaints about Card's state of mind directly from family members last February, according to Farley's testimony.
Farley also explained during the public hearing that Card's family members were cooperative during the investigation and drove to the Lewiston Police Department the night of the shooting to speak with officers.
Fellow Army reservists also expressed concern about Card's mental state in the months before the shootings. According to body camera video obtained by the Bangor Daily News, New York State Police troopers visited Card on July 16, 2023.
"I hope you understand that they're concerned enough about your welfare that they called us," one trooper was heard saying in the video.
"Cause they're scared cause I'm gonna friggin' do something, cause I am capable," Card responded.
The trooper asked Card what he meant by that comment, to which Card said "nothing," according to the video obtained by the newspaper.
Shortly after, the Army said Card was admitted to a civilian psychiatric hospital in New York, where he stayed for two weeks before returning to Maine.
Three months after the conversations with state police in New York, Card committed the worst mass shooting in Maine history.
After the release of the body camera video, a spokesperson for Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, released the following statement:
“As the Governor has said in the past, she believes it is important to recognize that, on multiple occasions, concerns about Mr. Card’s mental health and his behavior were brought to the attention of law enforcement agencies here in Maine and in New York, as well as his Army Reserve Unit. This raises crucial questions about actions taken and what more could have been done to prevent this tragedy from occurring, and it reinforces the importance of the work of the Independent Commission to fully and impartially establish the facts and circumstances, including any failures, so they may be brought to light and known by all.”