Mass shooting in Maine: Police suggest suicide note found during search for suspect | US News

A paper message that police suggested had the “tone” of a suicide note was discovered during the search for the suspect in the Maine mass shooting, officials said.

Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said the body of suspect Robert Card was found Friday in the back of a trailer in the facility’s parking lot near Lisbon Falls.

He said a paper note containing a phone password and banking information was also discovered following the fatal shooting, in which 18 people died.

Mr. Sauschuck described the message, addressed to a loved one, as “not explicitly a suicide note” but as having “the tone of someone who wasn’t going to be around much longer.”

Asked about the possible motive for the deadly attack, Mr Sauschuck said there was “clearly a mental health element”.

However, he said Card was never forcibly committed for mental health treatment — and therefore would not have shown up during a background check when purchasing a gun.

Card was found dead on Friday following Wednesday’s attack, the deadliest shooting in the United States this year and in Maine history.

Among those killed in the shooting, at the Just-In-Time bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston, were a father of four, described by his wife as the “best dad in the world,” and a father and his 14 -one year old son.

Thirteen other people were injured.

Police said Card’s body was found near the Androscoggin River in the Lisbon Falls area at a recycling facility where he recently worked.

Learn more:
All Maine mass shooting victims named
What do we know about the Maine shooting suspect?

Mr Sauschuck said police searching for Card evacuated the recycling center twice before his body was discovered in the back of a trailer in a parking lot near the facility.

Officers believe Card died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities said his cell phone and a gun were also found in a white Subaru identified as belonging to him.

The search for the former Army reservist spanned multiple locations across the state and involved at least 80 FBI agents and Coast Guard members.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org. Alternatively, letters can be sent by post to: Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS.