Maine shooter thought local businesses attacked in shooting were spreading ‘pedophile’ rumors about him: Docs

Maine law enforcement officers investigating last week’s mass shooting in Lewiston have shared evidence that suggests the U.S. Army reservist Robert Card, who killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar, may have intentionally targeted individuals at those locations.

On Tuesday, Maine State Police and the Maine Department of Public Safety released a trove of documents on Card, including search warrants, affidavits, criminal records and more that shed light on a possible motive after Card, 40, carried out a deadly rampage at the Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just In Time bowling alley that also wounded 13 other victims on Oct. 25.

According to multiple witnesses, including Card’s brother and son, Card knew people at both locations and may have believed they were calling him a “pedophile.” Card experienced a similar incident over the summer when he accused fellow members of his Army Reserves unit of calling him a pedophile. The incident prompted Army officials to have him undergo a mental health evaluation.

One affidavit reveals Card’s brother told police that the eventual mass shooting suspect thought there was a “conspiracy” involving people “accusing him of being a pedophile.”

MAINE MASS SHOOTING SUSPECT’S FAMILY ‘VERY COOPERATIVE’ IN MANHUNT THAT DISCOVERED HIS BODY: POLICE

Robert Card, the suspect in Wednesday’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.  (Maine Department of Public Safety)

State police interviewed a witness just hours after the shooting began, who said Card believed local businesses, including Schemengees Bar and Grille and the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, were “broadcasting online that Robert was a pedophile.” Card, according to his brother, also believed that some businesses were spreading rumors of him being a pedophile online. 

Another witness interviewed by police said Card specifically mentioned Joey Walker, the manager of Schemengees Bar and Grille, as one of the people who he thought had disparaged him, according to an affidavit filed in a request to access Card’s cell phone records. Walker was among those killed.

The same witness, whose name was redacted, told police he previously traveled with Card to both the bowling alley and bar, and that Card knew people at both locations.

They also shed light on how the pedophile allegations may have started.

Card’s girlfriend had two young daughters that he would take out to eat at Schemengees, “and that is where the pedophile thing in Robert’s head came from as Robert was there with (his girfriend’s) two daughters on occasions and felt that people were looking at him,” the witness said.

Police continue to search for Robert Card in Bowdoin, Maine on Thursday, October 26, 2023. Card allegedly killed 18 people and injured 13 others in two mass shooting locations on Wednesday night. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

Card also believed that some family members were involved in the conspiracy, according to his brother.

Card’s son told police that paranoia about strangers calling him a pedophile had become a recurring theme for his father since last winter.

The 40-year-old’s declining mental health was evident after a relationship with a woman at the bowling alley ended in a break-up in February, the documents suggest.

His brother said Card met his ex-girlfriend during a cornhole competition at Schemengees Bar and Grille. After Card’s ex-girlfriend ended the relationship, the family member said that his brother began “wearing hearing aids and had been saying crazy things.”

Since the breakup, Card “had significant weight loss, has been hospitalized for mental health issues and stopped taking prescribed medication,” his brother told police.

One witness told police that Card had been delusional since the relationship ended.

MAINE MASS SHOOTING SUSPECT ROBERT CARD FOUND DEAD WITH APPARENT SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND

Signage at Lisbon Public Works transfer station in Lisbon, Maine, Friday, October 27, 2023. Robert Card, the suspect in the mass shootings of Wednesday night was found dead here with an apparent self-inflicted gun-shot wound. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)

Card spent two weeks at a private psychiatric hospital in New York and was prescribed medication that he stopped taking, according to a police affidavit filed in support of an arrest warrant request.

Army Spokesperson Bryce Dubee told Fox News that Card was transported to a military medical treatment facility in West Point, New York on July 15 and didn’t participate in an annual training.

The Army determined that Card shouldn’t have a weapon while on military duty on Aug. 3, and the Army declared him to be non-deployable.

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On Sept. 15, Card’s unit requested a health and welfare check because they were “concerned for his well-being,” Dubee said. A soldier said he was afraid Card was “going to snap and commit a mass shooting” because he was hearing voices again, according to documents released by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office.

That same day, a deputy was sent to visit Card’s home in Bowdoin, about 10 miles southeast of Lewiston, for a wellness check but were unable to find him. A second wellness check was unsuccessful.

The sheriff’s office then sent out a statewide alert seeking help to locate Card, who they warned was “armed and dangerous.” 

An undated image from Robert Card’s Facebook account showing him in a blue t-shirt against a beige background. (Robert Card/Facebook)

Dubee said Card didn’t report to battle assembly in September or October, reportedly telling his unit that he had work conflicts.

On Oct. 18, the sheriff’s office canceled its statewide alert for Card.

One week later, the deadly rampage shook the local community and the country, prompting a massive manhunt.

Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound near a dumpster at a recycling plant in Libson Falls, Maine, where he once worked, on Oct. 27.

Fox News’ Molly Line and The Associated Press contributed to this report.