ME - Lewiston, Mass Shooting, Multiple Scenes - Oct 2023

[nightowl1975]

No one is saying the hearing aids caused it. That is just when his current problems started. The feedback or unaccustomed sounds may have aggravated a mental illness. If he has schizophrenia, he may have interpreted the feedback as voices.

Thank you!!

 

[Betty P]

The suspects' family are promoting this theory... not WSers'.
Just mentioning that.
I think they are probably in shock or at the very least, in damage control mode.
The Robert Card they knew was maybe someone they'd never believe could commit such an act ?
If they had no idea what was coming, they may be forgiven for grasping at straws -- which is what I think this is.
It's o.k. to theorize and speculate here, and the comments here are pondering all of the evidence that has been released so far.

The media has picked this up as well (see links below); but to be honest I think RC maybe had a burning rage about something someone said/did, or was an injustice collector ?
Not so much his hearing devices.
Imo.

Family of Maine shooting suspect says his mental health had deteriorated rapidly

The family of the Army reservist accused of fatally shooting more than a dozen people in Lewiston, Maine, alerted police and military officials that he was experiencing an “acute” mental health episode before the Wednesday night massacre, the suspect’s sister-in-law said.

www.nbcconnecticut.com

Robert Card, 40, a firearms instructor and longtime member of the Army Reserve, began to hear voices that were saying “horrible” things about him a couple of months ago when he was fitted for high-powered hearing aids, according to Katie Card, who is married to his brother.

Katie Card said the family did their best to reassure Robert Card that the comments were not real, including by verifying with some of the people he claimed had made the remarks. But, she said, “it turned into a manic belief.”

“He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she said.

Maine shooting suspect Robert Card ‘truly believed he was hearing people say things’ about him at bowling alley, bar murder sites: family

“He truly believed he was hearing people say things. This all just happened within the last few months,” said Katie O’Neill, who is married to Card’s brother.

nypost.com

In the lead-up to the shooting,Card started using high powered hearing aids, O’Neill explained.

“He would get mad and claim that we didn’t believe him. We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him.

Omo.

Does his family think having to wear hearing aids is the reason he terrified and attacked a group of deaf men?

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Does his family think having to wear hearing aids is the reason he terrified and attacked a group of deaf men?

No

 

[DeDee]

‘None of this seems real, but unfortunately it is’: Maine bowling alley, bar react to mass shooting

... a shooting at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley just before 7 p.m

The bowling center’s social media post has since been shared over 750 times while receiving hundreds of supportive comments..."

Has it permanently closed? I've seen it's closed in two places. Clicking the link takes one to Med pg

https://www.justintimebowl.com/ [This place is huge! It had to be a lot of fun to have so many patrons at 7pm on a school night]



24 Mollison Way, Lewiston, ME 04240 · (207) 786-2695 - Bing

 

[JDG]

The suspects' family are promoting this theory... not WSers'.
Just mentioning that.
I think they are probably in shock or at the very least, in damage control mode.
The Robert Card they knew was maybe someone they'd never believe could commit such an act ?
If they had no idea what was coming, they may be forgiven for grasping at straws -- which is what I think this is.
It's o.k. to theorize and speculate here, and the comments here are pondering all of the evidence that has been released so far.

The media has picked this up as well (see links below); but to be honest I think RC maybe had a burning rage about something someone said/did, or was an injustice collector ?
Not so much his hearing devices.
Imo.

Family of Maine shooting suspect says his mental health had deteriorated rapidly

The family of the Army reservist accused of fatally shooting more than a dozen people in Lewiston, Maine, alerted police and military officials that he was experiencing an “acute” mental health episode before the Wednesday night massacre, the suspect’s sister-in-law said.

www.nbcconnecticut.com

Robert Card, 40, a firearms instructor and longtime member of the Army Reserve, began to hear voices that were saying “horrible” things about him a couple of months ago when he was fitted for high-powered hearing aids, according to Katie Card, who is married to his brother.

Katie Card said the family did their best to reassure Robert Card that the comments were not real, including by verifying with some of the people he claimed had made the remarks. But, she said, “it turned into a manic belief.”

“He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she said.

Maine shooting suspect Robert Card ‘truly believed he was hearing people say things’ about him at bowling alley, bar murder sites: family

“He truly believed he was hearing people say things. This all just happened within the last few months,” said Katie O’Neill, who is married to Card’s brother.

nypost.com

In the lead-up to the shooting,Card started using high powered hearing aids, O’Neill explained.

“He would get mad and claim that we didn’t believe him. We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him.

Omo.

Sounds as if the family felt reassuring him was the way to deal with ‘the voices’, no one is talking about you etc but all the while RC was circling the drain mentally.

im not in any way blaming anyone, it’s done out of love and concern for his well being.

Sadly, it’s far too late to rectify anything now.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Does his family think having to wear hearing aids is the reason he terrified and attacked a group of deaf men?

I wouldn't say the suspect's family are promoting anything.
I'd say they repeated what the suspect told them, after he had his new hearing aids.

 

[Knox]

iirc, it was one of his family who tried to link his behavior to hearing aids and it made no sense to me. My husband has hearing aids but he doesn't "hear" weird voices nor is he mentally unstable.

JMO

Here's the link to the interview with his sister-in-law.

Family Reveals Suspected Gunman’s Link to Maine Massacre Sites

“He just has to reach out and do the right thing,” Robert Card’s sister-in-law told The Daily Beast.

www.thedailybeast.com

IMO, his family (who are also considered victims here at WS) - are likely struggling to make sense of this horrific tragedy and the fact someone they know and love is responsible. Who in God's name ever thinks their family member is capable of mass murder? She's only making reference to hearing aids in correlation to the start of when he began hearing voices. That's a factual statement according to what she knows of his progressively irratic behavior.

Hopefully he's found quickly and no one else is killed in the process.

 

[rsd1200]

That's some extremely rugged country through there. Gives an idea of the scenery and lay of the land; Appalachian Trail State Profile: Maine - The Trek If he's a skilled survivalist, then he could possibly disappear into those mountains for who knows how long. I could see him going back home too, though.

No one knows what this guy has going on right now, mentally speaking. He asked for help, from what I've gleened from here and the media (link below ) I do believe he was hearing voices. It's possible, in some cases, that the voices become strong enough to take over. (When the Voice Inside Your Head Turns Bad)

Suspected Lewiston shooter reported hearing voices

 

[branmuffin]

I wonder the same thing. Especially because it seems … comparable in some ways to a situation when someone kills themselves. There’s a good article about this as ‘contagious’ here.

Mass Killings Inspire Copycats, Study Finds

Police have said so for years and now scientists have measured the effect: Mass shootings and school attacks do inspire copycats.

www.nbcnews.com

Why does the contagion effect only seem to affect Americans, though? This news travels all over the world and you don't hear of Scottish people or some Latvian, Dutch or French person decide to kill as many people as possible because someone else did. The only common denominator in the acceleration of mass murder of strangers is the accessibility of guns in the US.

There is a correlation of copycat suicides when someone famous dies, like Robin Williams and that's not new. When Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Bourdain or when Korean pop stars committed suicide there's was a flurry of suicides. There's even a name for it, the Werther effect. I think one of the reasons why cause of death of a celebrity is withheld from the public for a while is to lessen the Werther effect. Finding out your favourite actor killed themselves several months after the act has a tendency to curtail copycat deaths.

This is an interesting podcast with a professor of criminology. Apologies if it's already been posted.

How to stop mass shootings, with Jillian Peterson, PhD

Jillian Peterson, PhD, talks about what drives most mass shooters, why thinking of mass shootings as suicides as well as homicides can suggest new ways to combat them, and what can be done in schools, workplaces, and elsewhere to make them less likely.

www.apa.org

 

[branmuffin]

This is an excellent explanation.

The link I've provided gives a great overview of the issue related to hearing loss. The doctor (PhD) seems to know what he's talking about but his personal responses below the article kind of blur the lines for me, not being a religious person.

Apophenia, Audio Pareidolia and Musical Ear Syndrome

hearinglosshelp.com

 

[Jurisprudence]

I was looking at UCC filings for RC, anyone know if he actually operates an active mill/business? Card Lumber, SOS inital filing in 1974, must be a family business?

Looks like this might be his father. Died back in 2012? (2015 this was updated). He was in the business but not an owner. Survived by his son, Robert of Topsham.

Robert Card, 82

BRUNSWICK — Robert Card, 82, died Feb. 8 at Maine Medical Center. Card was born in Lisbon on Dec. 18, 1929, the son of Edward and Mary Wilson Card. He attended Bowdoin schools. One June 3, 1955, he married Gertrude L. Morse. He later married Beverly Coffin LeBlanc; she died Nov. 30, 2004. Card...

www.pressherald.com

DM has a piece about a Topsham, ME yearbook

Before he was a killer: Yearbook photo shows Maine mass shooter

The yearbook entry for Robert Card has been unearthed, giving an insight into what he was like as a young man - as the multi-agency manhunt for the armed fugitive enters its 22nd hour.

www.dailymail.co.uk

So possible connection?

ETA: Also from DM above: "Steeves said Card was 'an outdoors type of guy' who had been through thorough firearms and land navigation training, so he would have little problem hiding out in woodland areas. He added that Card was one of the best shooters in their unit."




jmo

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Regardless of if the hearing aids had anything to do with him hearing voices, or if he was hearing voices at all…. I find it highly unlikely that he recently experienced significant hearing loss, got new fancy hearing aids, AND just so happened to shoot people from the deaf community. My money is on he knew those men.

For the record, hearing impairment is linked to auditory hallucinations in some individuals. Just putting it out there as it may not have had anything to do with the hearing aids themselves.

 

[al66pine]

Sea-Doos. Speed & Range of Travel?

"So his boat is indeed missing"
It's a SeaDoo, right? I mean, how far can you go on a SeaDoo? It's not like a boat with a big gas tank.

@CrimeDawg123 Thanks for prompting me to look a bit further.
Quickky searched for Sea-Doo products & found these models <--- 2024, of course, his could be older.

Personal water craft:

2025 Sea-Doo Personal Watercraft Models

Presenting the 2025 Sea-Doo personal watercraft lineup. Find the right ride for you; whether it be for fun, fishing; we have something for you.

sea-doo.brp.com

Also at that link, some tow boats and some "Sport Fishing" craft.

And Sea-Doo Pontoon boats:

2025 Sea-Doo Pontoon Boat Models for Fun & Sport

Explore the latest 2025 Sea-Doo Pontoon Lineup. Fun, adaptable and modern with never-before seen value, Live The Sea-Doo Life with our line of pontoon boats.

sea-doo.brp.com

IDK how far or how quickly a person on a Sea-Doo could go.

The named suspect has a l-o-n-g headstart.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*so telling…
“I talked to all my neighbors; everybody armed themselves and locked their doors,” said Daniel Blackerby of Lewiston. “Everybody I know is armed now.”

Mass shooting roils a city where “everybody kind of knows everybody"

A close-knit community is shattered after a gunman killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine's second-largest city.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Stunned]

So his boat is indeed missing.....
car at boat ramp, rivers....he could be anywhere by now.
He will need food and water. I worry about any inhabited cabins or homes along the shores.

With his skills, he could survive.

 

[airportwoman]

Who would ever find this post funny? Whoa!!

I have a feeling that was a troll.

 

[Bodhi]

Until a week ago, Card worked as a truck driver for LePage Bakeries, delivering products from Auburn, Maine o a bakery outlet in Hudson, New Hampshire (south of Manchester). He had an altercation with another employee within the past week, according to a co-worker, and is no longer employed by LePage.

NH Cops Aware Of Local Connection To Accused Maine Gunman

Card, who is wanted in connection with the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, was in Hudson, New Hampshire in the last week.

patch.com

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Several have made this point before me, but nonetheless I feel the need to chime in.

No one, including his family, has blamed his actions on his getting hearing aids, high-powered or of any other sort.

They think maybe the hearing aids exacerbated his delusion that he was hearing voices disparaging him--because he could suddenly hear better.

 

[Bodhi]

More details on the shootings from survivors and information on the suspect. The house surrounded by LE tonight and broadcast live is owned by Card's brother.

Police still hunting suspect more than 24 hours after 18 people killed in Lewiston

Police have charged Robert Card, of Bowdoin, with murder in the shootings that spawned a night of terror for people at bowling alley and a bar.

www.pressherald.com

 

[Jurisprudence]

Until a week ago, Card worked as a truck driver for LePage Bakeries, delivering products from Auburn, Maine o a bakery outlet in Hudson, New Hampshire (south of Manchester). He had an altercation with another employee within the past week, according to a co-worker, and is no longer employed by LePage.

NH Cops Aware Of Local Connection To Accused Maine Gunman

Card, who is wanted in connection with the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, was in Hudson, New Hampshire in the last week.

patch.com

Wow. Losing his job could have been a final trigger.

jmo