Maine Arrest Affidavit Shows Mass Shooter May Have Planned to Target Another Bar, Grocery Store
It was just over a week ago when 40-year-old Robert Card opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation and Shemengees Bar in Lewiston, Maine, making for the deadliest mass shooting the state of Maine has ever seen and the 10th deadliest in the United States.
Now, according to official documents, it appears as though Card was also planning to carry out his attacks at other businesses as well, but, for whatever reason, he never made it that far.
In the last week or so, we (the public) have learned quite a bit more about the history of Robert Card and some of the issues he was dealing with prior to the shootings that happened last Wednesday evening.
One of the things we learned is that Card falsely believed that local businesses were spreading rumors about him being a pedophile, according to the Kennebec Journal.
The newspaper says that a newly released arrest affidavit shows that Card was likely also planning to target Mixers Nightclub in Sabattus and Gowell's Shop N' Save in Litchfield.
The Kennebec Journal went on to report in part,
The 40-year-old Card had been having psychotic episodes and was hearing voices in the weeks and months that led up to the shooting. Family, friends and members of a Saco-based Army Reserve unit who served with Card alerted police, first in May and again in September, about his increasingly erratic behavior and paranoia, including specific concerns that he might carry out a mass shooting.
Police say they believe Card was targeting four businesses in total on Wednesday night: Just-In-Time Recreation, Shemengees Bar, Gowell's Shop N' Save and Mixers Nightclub, according to the newspaper.
We may never know why Card decided to end his life prior to traveling to the other businesses, though we can assume that lives were spared because of it. It's also important to note that last Wednesday while the shootings took place, Mixers Nightclub was closed.
Learn About the Victims of the Lewiston, Maine Shooting
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
Shooting in Lewiston 10/25/23
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander