Tipsheet

Maine Shooter Is Still at Large. Did He Escape by Boat?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  October 26, 2023 10:45 PM

Sarah wrote about the potential siege at a home in Bowdoin, Maine, a town outside of Lewiston, the site of the horrific mass shooting Wednesday night that left at least 15-20 people dead and 13 wounded. Robert Card is the suspect, a 20-year Army Reservist and trained firearms instructor suffering from severe mental health problems, including hearing voices. He was committed to a mental health clinic in the summer of 2023. Card also made threats to shoot up a National Guard base in Saco.

Police surrounded this residence, breached it, and found it empty. Card remains at large:

Card attacked Schemengees Bar and Grille and Spare Time Recreation (also known as Just-in-Time), a bowling alley where a youth league was underway. His vehicle was seen at a boat ramp in Lisbon, where there are concerns that he might have escaped on a 15-foot boat (via CBS News):


 A Coast Guard official told CBS News that it has deployed resources to help search for Robert Card, the suspect in a mass shooting that left 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, dead late last night.

 Card has been charged with eight counts of murder, officials said this morning. He's expected to be charged with further counts as the victims of the shooting are identified. On Wednesday night, police said they were searching for a "vehicle of interest," a white Subaru Outback that was registered to Card.

 A law enforcement source told CBS News that the vehicle was found near a boat launch. Bowdoin College, an area college that is closed today amid shelter-in-place advisories, said in an emergency bulletin that the vehicle was "abandoned" by a boat dock.

 The Coast Guard is now using a response vessel dispatched from Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and a fixed-wing aircraft from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to search the waterways for Card, who is believed to be in a 15-foot lake boat. The search is focused on the northern shore of the waterway. 

Police are investigating any leads, but Card remains in the wind.

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UPDATE: A note was found inside the home. It’s been described as a suicide note (via NY Post):


 Investigators uncovered a mysterious note at the home of suspected Maine mass shooter Robert Card — as the US Coast Guard joins the massive manhunt for the fugitive. 

The discovery was made as authorities executed a search warrant at Card’s disheveled house in Bowdoin Thursday, according to NBC News — one day after police said the unhinged US Army Reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in two mass shootings in Lewiston. 

Investigators are trying to determine if the note, the contents of which were not revealed, provides any answers to the motive behind the Wednesday night bloodbath, the outlet said. 

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has launched a surveillance plane and boats out of Boothbay to join the manhunt for the accused mass killer that already includes local, county, state and federal agents, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Third-Class Diolanda Caballero told NBC.