By: Lexie Cardine

CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses sensitive topics including gun violence.


A wave of terror rippled out from Lewiston, Maine after the area was hit by tragedy. With 18 dead, 13 injured, and many more scarred, the town fears it may never be the same.

Lewiston folks were enjoying a mundane Wednesday evening when the incident began. At 6:56 p.m. on October 25th, a 911 call rang through concerning a local mass shooting. 10 shots had been heard. Just 12 minutes later, dispatchers received multiple reports of another shooting in town.¹ Emergency services rushed to both scenes, but for many it was too late. 18 people lost their lives, ranking that night as America’s deadliest shooting in 2023.

The situation escalated even further as it turned into a manhunt. Citizens in the area were put under shelter-in-place orders, which told them to stay where they were and lock every single door. Schools and businesses shut down for the time being, making the streets a barren desert.

Using surveillance footage from Wednesday night, authorities determined the culprit to be Robert Card, a 40 year old army reservist from Bowdoin, Maine. An exact motive has yet to be determined, but there is belief that Card’s actions sprouted from his mental health issues. Card spent two weeks committed to a mental health facility, reportedly heard voices, and previously threatened to shoot up a national guard base. A search warrant used for the investigation revealed further details about Card’s life. His ex-girlfriend had two daughters, whom he would occasionally take out for food. When out on the town, Card believed that people were conspiring against him, even accusing him of being a pedophile. He also believed that certain businesses broadcasted this conspiracy online. The two locations targeted that Wednesday night, a bowling alley named Just-In-Time Recreation and a restaurant named Schemengees Bar and Grille, were two of the places on Card’s radar.²

After 48 hours of intense searching, the hunt was over. Robert Card’s body was found just 10 miles outside of Lewiston; his death caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.2 Once when this information was announced, Maine governor Janet Mills expressed the relief she felt knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to innocent people. She says, “It’s a close-knit community with a long history of hard work, of persistence, of faith, of opening its big heart to people everywhere. This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security. No city does, no state, no people.”³