Mass shooter Robert Card was turned away from a Maine gun store when he tried to buy a silencer for his assault rifle months before he went on a rampage at a bowling alley and bar — a move that may have saved many lives.
Card, 40, went to Coastal Defense Firearms in Auburn on Aug. 5 to pick up accessories he ordered online — but was turned away when staff learned about his mental history, ABC News reported.
“He came in and filled out the form. He checked the box that accused him of being in an institution,” store owner Rick LaChapelle told the outlet.
“Our staff is great. Let him finish filling out the form and say, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Card, we can’t give you this.’”
LaChapelle said the employee explained to the gunman that the information he provided would prevent them from selling him his gun accessories.
“At this time, we cannot release this silencer to you because of the answer you gave us,’” said the shop owner they told him.
“We did what we were supposed to do and hopefully saved a lot of lives the right way, just following the right procedures.'”
Maine mass shooter Robert Card tried to buy a silencer for his assault rifle in August but was denied because he disclosed that he had served time in a mental health facility according to the required forms. Last week he killed 18 people. Facebook / Robert Card Robert Card, a US reservist, stormed into the Just-In-Time Recreation and Schengenees Bar & Grille on Wednesday and opened fire, killing 18 people and wounding 13 others. He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday.AP
Card, a US Army reservist and sniper expert, spent two weeks in a mental health facility in July after making bizarre threats while training at Camp Smith near the US military academy at West Point.
On Wednesday, he stormed into Just-In-Time Recreation, a Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley and opened fire with an assault rifle — and minutes later fatally shot patrons at the nearby Schemenge Bar & Grille.
Authorities launched a massive manhunt for the crazed gunman, which ended Friday when he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Coastal Defense Firearms owner Robert LaChapelle said his staff was “fantastic” in how they handled the issue. The Silent ABC could allow Card to kill more victims, its owner speculates. ABC
LaChapelle, who is also the city council president in Lewiston, said the bloodshed could have been worse if Card had been able to purchase the silencer because survivors would not have been alerted by the sound of gunfire and failed to seek cover.
“He can spend more time in each location,” he said. “And it could have been more methodical, and my heart goes out to the people, the victims. This is really horrible. Terrible.”
LaChappelle said Card had purchased the silencer online, and had it delivered to his store for pickup — but was required to fill out a federal form that included questions about his mental health history.
Authorities launched a massive manhunt for Robert Card after an army reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others at the Just-In-Time Recreation and Schengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday. AFP via Getty Images Robert Card, wanted in a massive manhunt for a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, was found Friday in a trailer at a recycling facility. Police say the US reservist died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. NYPJ
“Have you ever been convicted of mental retardation or have you ever been committed to a mental institution,” said one question on the form. Card marked it with an “X” next to “yes,” ABC said.
A clerk at the store said Card was a police officer and was “very cooperative” when given the news, and just left.
A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declined to comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
