Friend of Maine shooter who warned high ranking army official ‘he was going to snap’ says he ‘spelled out’ mass shooting risk despite ‘loving’ him

The Maine mass shooter’s best friend, Robert Card, said he warned his friend’s superior that “he was going to snap” and said he “described the risk of mass shootings even though he” loved him.

Sean Hodgson, 43, and Card, 40, met in the military in 2006 and became fast friends that became more meaningful when both went through divorce.

He described him as the ‘sensible’ one, but also the one who pushed everyone away.

‘I always believed him. I always stayed with him,” he told ABC News, saying he pushed everyone away except his mother. “I was the last person he pushed away,” he said.

But when his friend started exhibiting erratic behavior (increased paranoia and rages) and refused to get help, he became concerned, especially knowing that as a soldier his friend had easy access to weapons.

Hodgson said he had warned their military superior weeks before the deadly massacre that his friend was about to implode.

The September 15 text read: “I believe he’s going to shoot and do a mass shooting.”

But his pleas went unanswered.

On October 25, 2023, Card walked into a local bar in Maine and shot and killed 18 people without explanation. He later turned the gun on himself.

FBI agents responded to the scene at the Schemengees Bar, where the deadly crash occurred

Last week, nearly three months after the mass shooting, Hodgson told the Associated Press: “I wasn’t in his head. I don’t know exactly what happened. But I do know I was right.’

Card exhibited disturbing behavior months before he went on a killing spree that killed 18 innocent people and injured 13 at the Schemengees Bar in Lewiston Maine on October 25, 2023.

Initial investigations showed that missed opportunities and warning signs involving Card were common. Reports indicated that colleagues and family members repeatedly raised the alarm about the threats he had made in the months before.

He was hospitalized after suffering several psychotic episodes, and told his superiors that he had heard voices threatening the base he was stationed at.

In May, police were alerted that Card had become paranoid and they were concerned about his access to weapons.

Two months later, he was admitted to a psychiatric ward for two weeks after pushing a fellow reservist, then locked himself in a motel room.

In August, Card was banned from handling weapons while on duty and declared himself ineligible for military service.

The biggest red flag occurred in September when Hodgson urged officials to change the access code to the gate of their Army Reserve training facility and to arm themselves if Card surfaces.

In the message he begged: ‘Please. I think he’s got his head confused.’

Robert Card, 40, exhibited disturbing behavior months before he went on a killing spree that killed 18 people and injured 13 at Schemengees Bar in Lewiston Maine on October 25, 2023.

Card killed 18 people in the massacre (pictured), in what has become the deadliest mass shooting of 2023

But Card was never confronted, and the shooting he engaged in became the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history.

Almost three months have passed and Hodgson still believes the signs could not have been clearer, although he believes more could have been done for his friend.

“I did my job, went above and beyond, and I literally spelled it out for them,” he said. “I don’t know how clear I could have gotten.”

But he had hoped his friend would not take his life and would “take the easy way out.”

He spoke of another Robert Card he knew — not the deadly shooter, but a person who “did everything he could to save lives.”

“I don’t know how to express to people how much I loved him, how much I cared about him,” he said. “And how I hate what he did.”