Robert Russell Card II

Robert Russell Card II was born on April 4, 1983, and raised in Bowdoin, Maine. A quiet and mostly reserved child, Card attended Bowdoin Central School and later graduated from Mount Ararat High School in Topsham in 2001. He briefly studied engineering at the University of Maine between 2001 and 2004 but did not complete his degree.

Card enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in December 2002. He worked as a petroleum supply specialist and later served as a hand grenade instructor with the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, based in Saco, Maine. Despite never being deployed to combat zones, Card spent years exposed to repetitive blast trauma during live grenade training. His career in the Reserve continued until 2022.

For much of his adult life, Card lived in or near his parents' property in Bowdoin. Friends and family described him as polite, dependable, and intelligent for most of his life. However, beginning in 2022, Card's demeanor changed significantly. His hearing began to deteriorate, and he exhibited signs of paranoia, aggression, and delusional thinking. By early 2023, family members and fellow reservists noted disturbing behavior, including irrational beliefs that strangers were calling him a pedophile and broadcasting rumors about him. His physical appearance also changed, with noticeable weight loss and episodes of emotional distress.

In July 2023, while on a training mission in New York, Card was removed from exercises after threatening to shoot up a military base. He was hospitalized at Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah for two weeks following an evaluation at West Point. Although prescribed lithium, he discontinued the medication shortly after returning to Maine.

Despite warnings from his unit and his ex-wife, who reported his mental instability to local police, law enforcement did not seize Card’s firearms. In September 2023, the Army Reserve again raised concerns about his deteriorating mental state. Deputies attempted a wellness check at his residence but backed off, citing tactical disadvantages and Card’s marksmanship skills. He was never disarmed.

Card worked at a recycling center in Lisbon but left his position shortly before the massacre. He had no significant criminal record aside from a 2007 DUI and two speeding tickets. In the weeks before the shooting, Card’s delusions deepened. He believed that businesses, including the bowling alley and the restaurant he would later attack, were spreading defamatory rumors about him. He expressed grievances specifically against people affiliated with these locations, one of whom was among the victims.

On October 25, 2023, Robert Card carried out the deadliest mass shooting in the history of Maine and one of the ten deadliest in modern U.S. history. Armed with a Ruger SFAR semi-automatic rifle chambered in .308 Winchester and equipped with extended magazines, he entered the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston at approximately 6:54 p.m. During a youth league event, Card fired his first shot before the weapon briefly jammed. Two heroic staff members, Jason Walker and Michael Deslauriers II, attempted to subdue him but were shot and killed after Card managed to reload. In less than 45 seconds, he fired 18 rounds, killing seven people and injuring three others before fleeing.

Approximately 13 minutes later, Card arrived at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, located four miles away. He entered through the main area and fired another 36 rounds over the next 78 seconds, killing ten people and injuring ten more. Among the victims were four members of the local Deaf community who were attending a cornhole tournament. One patron cut the power inside the bar during the attack, a move authorities later said likely saved many lives. Card escaped once again, driving away in his 2013 Subaru Outback.

Police issued an active shooter alert at 8:06 p.m. and released surveillance images of Card inside the bowling alley. His vehicle was located three hours later at a boat launch in Lisbon. A massive manhunt ensued, involving local, state, and federal agencies. Divers searched the nearby Androscoggin River using sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles. An arrest warrant was issued the following day, charging Card with multiple counts of murder.

Despite an intense 49-hour manhunt, Card remained at large until the evening of October 27. At 7:45 p.m., authorities located his body inside a box truck near a Lisbon recycling center where he had previously worked. He had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a handgun. The medical examiner estimated he had died between 8 to 12 hours earlier. Two additional handguns were recovered in the vehicle.

Card had discharged his rifle at least 54 times during the two attacks. Eighteen people were killed, seven at the bowling alley, eight at the bar, and three later in hospitals. Thirteen others sustained serious injuries. Victims ranged in age from 14 to 76.