Maine shooter signaled to police during check in that fellow reservists were afraid of him
The gunman responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting told New York State Police that his fellow Army reservists were afraid of him, because he was likely going to "do something," according to body cam footage.
The footage, obtained by WMTW-TV under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, showed reservist Robert Card telling troopers who escorted him to his hospitalization last summer that people kept talking about him behind his back.
“They’re scared ‘cause I’m gonna friggin’ do something. Because I am capable,” Card said, The Associated Press reported.
In October 2023, Card opened fire on two separate locations in Lewiston, Maine, leaving 18 people dead and 13 injured at both a bowling alley and bar. He was found dead in the woods from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after a multi-day statewide chase.
The body cam footage was recorded on July 16 before he spent two weeks at Keller Army Hospital for evaluation in the psychiatric hospital.
Maine State Police also recently released a new piece of information from their investigation. In a note on his cellphone, Card had written three days before the shooting spree that he’d “had enough” and warned that he had been “trained to hurt people,” the AP reported.
Eight of his fellow reservists have been authorized to testify at an upcoming meeting for the independent commission investigation. The Army is also conducting its own investigation.
Liz Seal, who lost her husband in the shooting, called the footage disturbing. The body camera footage shows that “there were clear warning signs that Card posed a risk to others and yet the system failed to ensure that his guns were taken away from him,” she told the AP.
The tape and resulting investigations further highlight the argument that police and the Army were sufficiently warned that Card was suffering from mental health issues long before the October shooting, per the AP.
His family expressed concern to police in May that he was growing paranoid and they were worried about his access to guns. A colleague described him as a “gun nut,” while another said he was worried that he was going to hurt himself or someone else.
The Associated Press contributed.