Recently released text messages have revealed that fellow Army Reserve members expressed concern over Robert Card and his mental state around six weeks before the fatal attack that resulted in the death of 18 people.
According to the Daily Mail, one set of text messages sent by a Sergeant Hodgson urged that the code to the gate be changed, and servicemembers be armed if Card showed up.
“Change the passcode to the unit gate and be armed if SFC Card does arrive,” the text message to his supervisor in September read.
“Please. I believe he’s messed up in the head. And threaten the unit other and other places. I love [him] to death but I do not know how to help him and he refuses to get help,” the message continued.
The Army Reservist expressed concerns over Card “hearing things he thinks he heard,” adding that, “when I dropped him off he was concerned his weapons were still in the car. I believe they were at the unit. And no one searched his vehicle on federal property. And yes he still has all of his weapons.”
“I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.”
The supervisor who was sent the messages subsequently notified sheriff’s deputies with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office. The office sent out a File 6 alert to police departments across the state, and deputies went to Card’s home to try to speak with him twice but were unsuccessful.
On October 18, one week before the shooting, the File 6 alert was canceled, according to the Daily Mail.
The alert urged police to be on the lookout for Card, who was considered “armed and dangerous,” adding that “Robert has been suffering from psychotic episodes and hearing voices. He is a firearms instructor and made threats to shoot up the National Guard armory in Saco.”
In May, Card’s ex-wife and son, Cara and Colby Card, visited police to express their concerns over Card.
Cara told police she was worried about her son spending time with Card “considering what may be a deteriorating mental health condition,” and said that her ex-husband had picked up between 10 to 15 handguns and rifles from his brother’s house.
The two said that the Card family “is aware of Robert’s deteriorating mental health, but their efforts have been in vain as Robert is in denial.”
Card fatally shot 18 people on October 25 at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. A multi-day manhunt was sparked, with Card being found dead in a near a recycling plant in the Lisbon area with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
