Robert Card, 40, was found dead by cops more than 48 hours after he allegedly opened fire in a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, about an hour north of Portland.
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Card’s body was found at 7:45 pm this evening near the river in Lisbon Falls, Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said on Friday night.
Sauschuck said Card was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Card was found in a dumpster at his former workplace, Maine Recycling, according to local ABC affiliate WMTW.
He was found wearing the clothes he had on during Wednesday night’s rampage and had recently been fired from the recycling plant, according to multiple reports.
Officials found Card’s car in Lisbon on Wednesday night shortly after the shootings happened.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers worked around the clock searching for Card after his shooting rampage at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, previously known as Sparetime, and at Schemengees Bar and Grille just before 7 pm on Wednesday.
Armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, Card gunned down seven victims inside the bowling alley before continuing the bloodbath at Schemengees, about four miles away.
Maine State Police revealed eight others were killed at the restaurant.
Sauschuck confirmed on Friday that investigators uncovered a note at one of the residences searched but refused to elaborate on what was in it.
Law enforcement sources previously told ABC News that Card left a suicide note addressed to his son at his house.
Sources also revealed that Card’s sister had been cooperating with officials during the investigation and claimed that the suspect may have been looking for his ex before he went on a shooting spree.
The sibling also told investigators that Card had stayed at a mental health facility during the summer after he heard voices in his head.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.
The shooting is set to be the deadliest in Maine’s history.
FULL-SCALE MANHUNT
Heavily armed officers searched Lewiston and surrounding towns, following over 530 tips and leads and issuing shelter-in-place orders that covered nearly 700 square miles in Maine.
Federal agents searched a house in the nearby town of Bowdoin, where Card is from, on Thursday evening, saying on a loudspeaker: “Robert Card, you’re under arrest. We know you’re inside. Come out with your hands up, we don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Helicopters and drones were overhead, and a spotlight was seen pointing at the home before a large majority of law enforcement vehicles left the home after discovering Card was not holed up inside.
Resources were dedicated to searching a boat launch near Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls, where Card’s Subaru Outback was found hours after the shooting, Sauschuck said on Friday.
Officials feared the US Army recruit could have escaped the area in a 15-ft boat after uncovering that he owned a green boat.
Maine State Police officials deployed dive teams equipped with sonar and remote operating vehicles to search the vast waters along the shoreline.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIED
Less than 48 hours after the tragedy, families began to identify the victims of the mass shooting.
The victims were identified as Peyton Brewer-Ross, 39; Ronald G. Morin, 55; Tommy Conrad, 34; Michael Deslauriers II, 51; Bryan MacFarlane, 41; Arthur Fred Strout, 42; Joseph “Joey” Walker, 57; Joshua Seal, 36; Tricia Asselin, 53; Maxx Hathaway, 35; William and Aaron Young, 44 and 14, respectively, Robert “Bob Violette and his wife Lucy, 76 and 73 respectively; Jason Adam Walker, 51; Keith D. Macneir, 64; William Frank Brackett, 48; and Stephen M. Vozzella, 45.
Violette, 76, was the first victim identified – a longtime bowling instructor who family members say bravely died protecting children at Just-In-Time Recreation.
Born and raised in Lewiston, Violette was an avid bowler who took up the sport on most mornings and participated in leagues, his daughter-in-law, Cassandra, told The Sun Journal.
Violette and his wife of almost 50 years, Lucy, took up the sport in retirement because it was something they could do together, Cassandra recalled.
He became passionate about the sport and began running a youth bowling league at the bowling alley.
“He wouldn’t let you walk out the door without giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek,” Cassandra said, “He was just there for everything.”
For the retired Sears mechanic, Wednesday nights were reserved for youth bowling, where he taught children the sport.
Cassandra said Violette saved money to buy iPads and iPhones to get good videos of the kids in his league and help them improve.
“He loved those kids, all of them,” she recalled.
Violette’s wife, Lucy, was also killed in the incident.
The Violettes are survived by their three children, Andrew, Tom, and John, and six grandchildren.
Tricia Asselin, 53, a part-time employee at Just-In-Time Recreation, was shot and killed as she ran to the counter and dialed 911.
“What I’m told is that when it all started happening, she ran up to the counter and started to call 911, and that’s when she was shot,” Asselin’s brother, DJ Johnson, told CNN.
“That was just her. She wasn’t going to run. She was going to try and help.”
Friend Sarah Proulx remembered ASselin as a selfless, big-hearted, hardworking single mother, she exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
“She would’ve put herself in harms way to help others,” Proulx previously told The U.S. Sun.
Joseph “Joey” Walker, the manager at Schemengees Bar and Grille, was one of the eight victims killed at the restaurant.
Leroy, Walker’s dad, said his son died while trying to stop the gunman: “He died as a hero cause he picked up a butcher knife, somewhere he has all that stuff by the bar, and he tried to go at the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else.
“The gunman shot him twice,” Leroy told NBC News.
OFFICIALS REACT
Sauschuck confirmed that the victims’ families, as well as Card’s relatives, were contacted prior to Friday night’s press conference announcing the location of the gunman’s body.
Maine Senator Susan Collins shared a statement after she was told by President Biden that Card’s body had been found.
“To the families who lost loved ones and to those injured by this attack, I know that no words can diminish the shock, pain, and justifiable anger you feel,” her statement read in part per News Center Maine.
At a Friday night press conference, Governor Janet Mills expressed her “profound gratitude” for the first responders who helped locate Card’s body.
“Like many people, I am breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” she said.
“With this search concluded I know that law enforcement continues to investigate all the facts.”
Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre said there is still work to do as they continue to investigate.
“Very happy the threat is over,” he said.
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