Maine authorities dedicated Monday to piecing together the sequence of events that culminated in the state’s deadliest mass shooting.

Key elements of the investigation began to emerge, shedding light on the suspect’s history of interactions with law enforcement and concerning indicators related to mental illness and violent threats.

The suspected shooter, Robert Card, was discovered dead on Friday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officials revealed that Card had undergone a mental health evaluation last summer when he displayed erratic behavior at an Army training facility in New York, the Associated Press reported.

Following this incident, a bulletin sent to law enforcement shortly after the recent attack indicated that Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks due to “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” a military base.

During a news conference held last week, the police stated that there was no evidence suggesting that the 40-year-old Card, who also worked as a firearms instructor, had ever been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.

Such an involuntary commitment could have made it illegal for him to possess firearms. However, family members of Card informed federal investigators that he had recently mentioned hearing voices and had become increasingly fixated on the bowling alley and bar where the shootings occurred.

This information came from law enforcement officials who spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation’s details.

Card’s rampage on October 25 resulted in 18 fatalities and 13 injuries, shocking the nation and a community where firearms are prevalent but gun violence is rare.

Written by staff