PORTLAND, Maine — An Army reservist responsible for Maine’s deadliest mass shooting told state police in New York before his hospitalization last summer that fellow soldiers were worried about him because he was “going to do something.”
Reservist Robert Card told troopers escorting him to a hospital in upstate New York that fellow reservists and others kept talking about him behind his back, “and it’s getting old,” according to police bodycam video obtained by WMTW -TV and others under New York’s Freedom of Information Act.
“They’re scared because I’m going to fucking do something. Because I am capable,” Card told New York State Police officers.
The release of the police bodycam video, recorded on July 16, followed the release of a new detail Thursday by the Maine State Police, which addressed an independent commission investigating the tragedy: An examination of Card’s cellphone revealed a note he had written three days before the tragedy. October 25 shooting in Lewiston, in which he said he had “had enough” and warned that he was “trained to hurt people.”
The 40-year-old Card killed 18 people and injured 13 at a bowling alley and a bar, sparking the largest manhunt in state history and sending tens of thousands of people sheltering in their homes. Card’s body was found two days later. He had died by suicide.
Police body camera video provided a chilling glimpse of Card after he was involved in an altercation and locked himself in his motel room, alerting fellow Maine reservists. He appeared thinner than normal, his fellow reservists said.
An earlier state police report indicated he had threatened fellow reservists. But New York State Police said in a statement that he was never in custody. Card was driven to Keller Army Hospital by fellow reservists for evaluation, and troopers followed the private vehicle. Card ended up spending two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.
Police and military were warned long before the shooting that Card was suffering from deteriorating mental health.
Family members alerted police in May that Card, 40, was becoming paranoid and raised concerns about his access to weapons before the incident unfolded while his unit was training in upstate New York in July. In August, the military banned Card from handling weapons while on duty and declared him undeployable.
Then in September, a fellow reservist who considered Card his best friend issued a stark warning, telling an Army officer that Card was “going to commit a mass shooting.”
Dressed in gym shorts and an army T-shirt, Card said the New York State Police people had been talking behind his back for about six months. He said people spread rumors that he was gay and a pedophile. He said he had heard snippets of people talking behind his back, and had heard the rumors had been posted online, although he couldn’t find anything online.
Card also told troopers he was not taking any prescription medications.
In Maine, an alert that Card had left the Saco armory where his reserve unit was stationed prompted a Sagadahoc County deputy to meet Card at his home in Bowdoin. Card did not come to the door even though he was believed to be inside, and the deputy said he did not have the legal authority to throw open the door to force a meeting to assess whether he should be placed in protective custody are taken. That move is necessary to enact Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which allows a judge to temporarily take away a person’s guns during a mental health crisis.
The deputy said an Army official suggested letting the situation “simmer” rather than forcing a confrontation. The deputy also received assurances from Card’s family that they were depriving him of access to weapons.