Lewiston gunman met ex at Schemengees, believed businesses were calling him a pedophile, affidavit says

Oct. 31—The gunman in the deadly shootings that claimed the lives of 18 people in Lewiston last week had gone through a "bad break-up" and a decline in mental health just before he targeted a bar where he had met his ex, according to police documents.

Robert Card, 40, also believed four local businesses — Schemengees Bar & Grille, Just-in-Time Recreation, Gowell's Market in Litchfield and Mixers Nightclub in Sabattus — were broadcasting online that he was a pedophile.

Newly released police affidavits made public Tuesday afternoon show how police connected Card with the deaths as they investigated the deadliest shooting in Maine.

Some of the documents are redacted, but they still provide new details about the accused shooter and the manhunt that followed after Card escaped from the bar.

They include applications for warrants to search Card's property, including his 2013 Subaru Outback, his home on West Road in Bowdoin, where he lived in a white single-wide mobile home, and his phone, a Samsung Galaxy 2022 Ultra.

The warrant for his car and home said police were looking for guns, ammunition, including spent casings, phone and electronics, blood samples, hair, bone fragments and other trace evidence, including latent prints and DNA. They were also looking for any of Card's personal documents and medications.

Among the people who were interviewed by police the night of the shootings was Card's sister, who is identified in a police affidavit by her initials, N.H. In an interview at the Lewiston Police Department, N.H. told police Card "has been delusional since February 2023 after a bad break-up," according to an arrest affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Victoria Lane.

N. H. said that since the break-up, Card "has had significant weight loss, has been hospitalized for mental health issues and prescribed medication that he stopped taking."

His sister also told police that Card believed the four businesses — Schemengees Bar & Grille, Just-in-Time Recreation, Gowell's Market in Litchfield and Mixers Nightclub in Sabattus — were broadcasting online that he was a pedophile.

"Robert also believed that his family was involved in the conspiracy," the affidavit states.

It was his family that first identified Card as the suspect police had circulated a picture of entering the bowling alley last Wednesday. Roughly two and a half hours after the first shooting, the affidavit states N.H. called Lewiston police and identified Card as the shooter.

The night of the shootings, police also spoke with Card's brother, who told them Card had been in a relationship with a person identified only as J.C. and that the two had met at Schemengees. The brother "said that ever since the relationship ended, Robert started wearing hearing aids and had been saying crazy things," the affidavit said.

In a separate interview with police, Card's brother also told them that they would sometimes go to Schemengees together and that on some occasions Card told his brother that people at the bar were calling him a pedophile.

The brother told police that Card's girlfriend had two daughters who Robert would take to Schemengees to eat "and that is where the pedophile thing in Robert's head came from. Robert was there with J.'s two daughters on occasions and felt people were looking at him," reads an affidavit by Maine State Police officer Blake Conrad.

The documents were released Tuesday as three people injured in the shootings remain hospitalized at Central Maine Medical Center. A fourth patient, a 16-year-old Edward Little High School student, is at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is expected to need several reconstructive surgeries.

CMMC said Tuesday that two of its three patients are in critical condition and one is stable.

Gov. Janet Mills has invited President Joe Biden to visit Lewiston later this week, though the White House has yet to confirm the visit.

"We are appreciative of the governor of Maine inviting the president to visit. As you know, when the president visits any state anywhere, there's a lot of logistics that has to come into play. I don't have anything to share on a particular date," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The governor on Tuesday visited the Family Assistance Center in Lewiston that has been set up to help victims and their families access services like mental health counseling, financial aid, spiritual care and legal assistance.

Mills' office also announced the launch of an online form Tuesday by which communities and organizations can request special behavioral health support, including on-site mental health clinics.

Card was found dead in a trailer at the Maine Recycling Corp. in Lisbon where he used to work on Friday night, about 48 hours after police say he committed the worst mass shootings in Maine history. Police have said he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A 40-year-old U.S. Army reservist, Card was known to local law enforcement, who had received two reports of concerns about his mental health earlier this year. Family members of Card's told police in May that he was experiencing paranoia and hearing voices, and his Army Reserve unit requested a welfare check in September.

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office sent a File 6 — an attempt to locate teletype — to other law enforcement agencies as they followed up on the request for a welfare check, but they were not successful in locating Card. A deputy did make contact with Card's brother, who told the officer he would work to secure any firearms Card had, and the File 6 alert was canceled on Oct. 18, exactly one week before the mass shooting.

On Monday, authorities identified three guns Card had with him at the time of the shootings: an AR-10-style Ruger SFAR rifle that was found in Card's vehicle, a Smith & Wesson M&P .40 caliber handgun and a Smith & Wesson M&P rifle. The Smith & Wesson guns were found with Card, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said.

Press Herald staff writer Lana Cohen and Sun Journal Audience Engagement Editor Nina Mahaleris contributed to this report.

This story will be updated.