Card had recently made threats to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and also reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 26 October 2023 07:14 (six months ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/25/lewiston-maine-shooting-live-updates/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 26 October 2023 11:59 (six months ago) link
Xxp frogbs I think when polled a majority of Americans want some form of gun control but our minoritarian political system allows a small number of gun nuts to control the discourse.
― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 26 October 2023 12:04 (six months ago) link
This guy seems like the most obvious case of someone who should not have had access to guns
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Thursday, 26 October 2023 12:26 (six months ago) link
Where were all the concealed carry heroes to stop this from happening?
Oh, right.
Melt all the fucking guns. Now.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 26 October 2023 12:59 (six months ago) link
Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserve
so he's the 'good guy with a gun' all these people keep talking about. remember that a whole bunch of US Senators suggested putting a guy like this outside of every school.
― frogbs, Thursday, 26 October 2023 13:27 (six months ago) link
ran across a fair amount of 'mental illness is not a predictor for violence' posts on bluesky which...yeah, I get that in general, but if your mental illness includes voices in your head telling you to kill lots of people and you've been locked up twice in a year because of that, then I think in that case, it's a fair predictor for violence.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Thursday, 26 October 2023 16:45 (six months ago) link
Just checked in with a friend from that town in Maine. His parents are currently sheltering in place, and they know some of the apparent victims. (For what it's worth, he's a liberal gun owner, his dad is a Trumpy conservative gun owner; both hunters.)
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 26 October 2023 17:02 (six months ago) link
The family of Robert Card—who is suspected of killing 18 people in two mass shootings in Maine on Wednesday night—say the Army reservist had previously claimed he was hearing voices at the two locations he allegedly attacked.
In the aftermath of the carnage, Katie Card, who is married to Card’s brother, told The Daily Beast that their family has been messaging her brother-in-law and urging him to surrender to authorities.
“I have known Rob my whole life,” Card said on Thursday. “He is quiet but the most loving, hardworking, and kind person that I know. But in the past year, he had an acute episode of mental health, and it’s been a struggle.”
She said that Robert Card recently began wearing powerful hearing aids to combat hearing loss. Since then, Card said her brother-in-law has been insisting to his family that he can hear people bashing him—including at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grill, where he’s accused of gunning down 18 people on Wednesday night.
“He truly believed he was hearing people say things,” she added. “This all just happened within the last few months.”
Did anyone at least try to take away his guns during this past year or even these few months when it was blatantly obvious he was having severe mental health issues? I fucking hate the gun culture in this country.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:01 (six months ago) link
i guess it's possible he was creating a stockpile on the sly, like the Vegas shooter did, but considering his previous job i'd hope someone would have maybe thought to do that. i can also imagine people being afraid to confront him. people hate confrontation in normal(er) circumstances.
― omar little, Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:06 (six months ago) link
even the 'good guys' go schizophrenic sometimes
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:07 (six months ago) link
according to a neighbor his whole family are a bunch of gun nuts and their house is like a compound
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:19 (six months ago) link
I hope they're held accountable in court.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:21 (six months ago) link
so if someone already legally owns guns, then winds up hospitalized for a mental health crisis where they talk repeatedly about shooting places up.... is there no legal mechanism in place to take the guns away? I get that they can be prevented from further purchase.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:23 (six months ago) link
States have tried to pass laws like that, but NRA-backed politicians always prevent their passage. They seriously don't care, they throw some sociopathic bullshit about how even an abusive, violent asshole deserves to be armed because of their warped interpretation of the 2nd amendment.
Everyone should read this: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/23/battleground-america
Gives you an idea of how the NRA got warped by a bunch of sociopathic extremists and created the hellhole reality we're dealing with now.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:28 (six months ago) link
I think the argument is that people with severe mental health issues are at elevated risk of being victims of violence (true) so they need huge stockpiles of guns and ammo to protect themselves from those who wish them harm (FAAAAAAAAAAAAALSE)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 26 October 2023 20:33 (six months ago) link
Maybe his family was stockpiling guns to protect themselves from him.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 26 October 2023 21:06 (six months ago) link
Can't believe this well-regulated militia failed us
In a community like Lewiston, Von Scott, an Auburn resident, was appalled no one stopped the shooter during Wednesday night's attacks. "Really what shocks me is that nobody shot back at him," he said. "Part of safety in Maine is that everybody carries.” https://t.co/Qn0alcrHgm.— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) October 26, 2023
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 26 October 2023 22:06 (six months ago) link
Did they get him?
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:35 (six months ago) link
I believe they are still looking for him.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:37 (six months ago) link
In a state that's 90% forest, god help them
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:41 (six months ago) link
The worry I'd have is that he's going to pop out somewhere else and try another one of these things. I hope everybody takes the local lockdown seriously, but one wonders if he's even in the area anymore.
― omar little, Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:43 (six months ago) link
90% forest and 5% bearded white men with guns — hay in a haystack.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:43 (six months ago) link
hope he gets stomped by a moose
― BEWARE! SPOOKY! BOO! (Hunt3r), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:43 (six months ago) link
stomplamoose'd
― Natural Wine • Danny Devito • Virginia (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:56 (six months ago) link
The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a moose IIRC
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 26 October 2023 23:58 (six months ago) link
Lol sufjan
A well-regulated mooselitia
― Breakfast at Tiffani Amber Thiessen's (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 27 October 2023 00:03 (six months ago) link
Golden: I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle he used to carry out this crime. The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure. Which is why I now call on the United States congress to ban assault rifles pic.twitter.com/0k60XJQoaB— Acyn (@Acyn) October 26, 2023
Good luck with that, pro-gun Dem.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 27 October 2023 00:42 (six months ago) link
they are surrounding his house now. you'd think they would have checked there earlier
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Friday, 27 October 2023 00:51 (six months ago) link
Well he had a sign that said no solicitation
― real warm grandpa (Neanderthal), Friday, 27 October 2023 01:27 (six months ago) link
"everyone in maine carries" is complete horseshit
― call all destroyer, Friday, 27 October 2023 01:36 (six months ago) link
Senate Voted to Let Vets With Mental Issues Keep Guns Hours Before Maine Shooting
― birdistheword, Friday, 27 October 2023 05:00 (six months ago) link
no paywall via yahoo:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/senate-voted-let-vets-mental-205000099.html
― birdistheword, Friday, 27 October 2023 05:03 (six months ago) link
https://www.newsweek.com/robert-card-maine-mass-shooting-social-media-posts-1838068
― The First Time Ever I Saw Gervais (Tom D.), Friday, 27 October 2023 09:21 (six months ago) link
Not a fan of the Daily Mail, but they just posted a story with the headline Fugitive 'gun fanatic' Robert Card lived in COMPOUND in sleepy Maine town with firearm-crazed family who neighbors avoided, as manhunt continues
The relevant part:
Fugitive Maine shooting suspect Robert Card lived in a 'compound' with his gun-fanatic family, according to a local who claimed neighbors tried to avoid the alleged killer.
Liam Kent, who lives near Card's home in Bowdoin, told The Messenger the community knew the suspect and his relatives as 'gun-toting enthusiasts who lived in 'basically a compound.'
'They would shoot guns all the time, you could hear them every day after school. It was like clockwork,' Kent claimed, adding that he once saw Card 'covered in blood with a gun on his back (and) a giant grin on his face' after going deer hunting.
The suspect received involuntary psychiatric treatment this summer after he reported hearing voices and having thoughts about hurting other soldiers while training at Camp Smith in New York, a military source told CNN.
He was committed to a mental health institution for about two weeks this summer after threatening to shoot up a national guard base.
― birdistheword, Friday, 27 October 2023 21:39 (six months ago) link
how long are they going to be actively looking for him? I don't think I've ever heard of one of these guys actually getting away.
― frogbs, Friday, 27 October 2023 21:56 (six months ago) link
what about John Rambo?
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 27 October 2023 22:00 (six months ago) link
Eric Rudolph was a fugitive for, what, 5 years?
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 27 October 2023 22:10 (six months ago) link
Yeah. He was a survivalist though. Not sure if this guy packed enough jerky.
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Saturday, 28 October 2023 00:58 (six months ago) link
Robert Card, who was wanted in connection with the shootings at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official tells The Associated Press. Press conference will be held at 10 p.m. EST
― birdistheword, Saturday, 28 October 2023 01:26 (six months ago) link
(cut-and-paste job, should've put that in italics)
― birdistheword, Saturday, 28 October 2023 01:27 (six months ago) link
He died doing what he loved.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 28 October 2023 02:10 (six months ago) link
Just now I was reading the CNN profiles (? this deserves a better word) of the 18 dead, which is how I learned that a number of them were participating in a deaf cornhole league. I don't know what to do with this information. It breaks my heart.
― The king of the demo (bernard snowy), Saturday, 28 October 2023 02:44 (six months ago) link
He should have just taken himself out in the first place without visiting misery on so many others.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 28 October 2023 15:27 (six months ago) link
A more common scenario, to be fair
― I must be the unluckiest man alive (Matt #2), Saturday, 28 October 2023 15:30 (six months ago) link
He was hearing evil voices from the bowling alley though. Not every case is the same but for an outsider it’s pretty terrifying to see how that kind of paranoia has a hold on someone with severe schizophrenia. I even had another encounter with what was probably a paranoid schizophrenic during the New York Film Festival. He ran up to the ticket window, clearly “looking” for the people there and repeated angry accusations that they were secretly talking about terrible things involving him. When a staff member tried to accost him, he spit a giant loogie on the window and fled in terror. He looked like he was very poor and homeless and not likely to own a gun, but imagine if Card had become like that.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 28 October 2023 17:02 (six months ago) link
(To be clear, what I meant was, he should never have had access to guns when it was obvious he lost his mind.)
― birdistheword, Saturday, 28 October 2023 17:18 (six months ago) link
The American version of good news. https://t.co/s8lO7UiBsc pic.twitter.com/kDv6nFeuGb— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 30, 2023
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 30 October 2023 22:15 (six months ago) link
see, the good guy with a gun isn't a myth.
― omar little, Monday, 30 October 2023 23:02 (six months ago) link
All it takes to stop a bad guy with a gun is a bad guy with a gun.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 30 October 2023 23:04 (six months ago) link