Maine mass shooter Robert Card claimed voices in his head were calling him a ‘pedophile’
Deranged Maine mass shooter Robert Card had repeatedly claimed he could hear voices in his head calling him a “pedophile” and was paranoid that people were “casing” his home in the months before he massacred 18 people, police reports obtained by The Post show.
The 40-year-old gunman’s family were among the first to alert authorities about his erratic behavior after he started verbally lashing out at them and once opened the door to them brandishing a gun, according to at least two Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office incident reports.
Card — who, according to his relatives, had been drinking heavily in the lead-up to last week’s mass shooting in Lewiston — had become so paranoid that people were calling him a pedophile that he’d talked about wanting to hire a lawyer.
The Maine National Guard, too, had become so concerned about the US Army reservist that it had urged local authorities to carry out a welfare check because fellow soldiers feared Card would “snap and commit a mass shooting.”
Card’s son and his ex-wife had also flagged their concerns about his deteriorating mental health to the local sheriff’s office back in May, an initial incident report shows.
They noted the issues, which started as early as January, had escalated of late and that the son now believed his father was likely “hearing voices or starting to experience paranoia” because he thought people were saying derogatory things about about him in public.
Card’s family and authorities noted that his mental issues emerged around the same time he had gotten high-powered hearing aids after his hearing had significantly deteriorated.
On one occasion, the son said, his father became “very angry” at him and accused him of also saying things behind his back, the incident report said.
Card’s ex-wife also told cops her former husband had recently picked up 10 to 15 handguns and rifles that used to be stored at his brother’s house — and that she was “very worried” about her son spending time with his dad, the report states.
In a separate interview with authorities, Card’s brother said the gunman had recently opened the door to relatives armed with one of the guns and had been talking about people outside casing his home.
The brother added that Card often opened the door to his trailer with a handgun out of sight, the report said.
But it wasn’t just relatives who had become fearful of Card’s declining mental health.
A subsequent incident report filed in mid-September showed that the National Guard had urged the sheriff’s office to carry out a welfare check on Card because a fellow soldier was concerned he was “going to snap” and had made numerous threatening comments, the file stated.
Soldiers had also flagged repeatedly that Card believed others were “insulting him, calling him a pedophile,” according to the report.
One soldier, identified only as SSG Hodgson, had voiced his concerns after Card punched him as the two were driving home from a casino.
“When Hodgson told him to knock it off because he was going to get in trouble talking about shooting up places and people, Card punched him,” the report said.
“Hodgson was able to get out of the car and made his own way home. According to Hodgson, Card said he has guns and is going to shoot up the drill center at Saco and other places.”
The Guard informed the sheriff’s office that Card had recently spent two weeks at the Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Westchester County, NY, undergoing treatment after he’d accused fellow soldiers of calling him a pedophile and threatened that “he would take care of it.”
Members of the Sagadahoc and Kennebec sheriff’s offices attempted to talk to Card during the Sept. 16 welfare check, but he failed to answer the door, the incident report states.
The sheriff’s office, which by then was aware that Card was a proficient shooter, decided to “back away” from his home given deputies were in a “disadvantageous position,” according to the file.
Around that time, Card’s brother had agreed to help authorities try to retrieve the cache of weapons from his trailer.
The welfare check and second incident report was filed just six weeks prior to Card unleashing terror at a bowling alley and bar on Oct. 25, killing 18.
Card, who was an expert marksman, had stormed into the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and opened fire with an assault rifle — before minutes later gunning down patrons at nearby Schemengee Bar & Grille.
Authorities launched a massive manhunt for the deranged gunman, which ended two days later when he was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
