(RightWing.org) – US Army reservist Robert Card shot and killed 18 people and injured 13 others during a mass shooting he carried out at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, last October. The first location the 40-year-old suspect targeted was a local bowling alley hosting a youth league event, and the second was a bar and grill. Authorities discovered his body a couple of days later at his former place of employment. Local officials recently released the transcripts from the 911 calls placed by frantic Lewiston residents that fateful day.
On January 8, The Associated Press (AP) published a lengthy article detailing the contents of the transcripts. Media outlets obtained the records after the AP and other news agencies filed a Freedom of Information Act request with local officials.
The AP reported that a review of those documents revealed that dispatch centers located in Androscoggin County received roughly 50 separate 911 calls from civilians in the Lewiston-Auburn twin cities in slightly less than an hour.
The transcripts revealed some of the terror accompanying Card’s deadly killing spree. For example, one person appeared to be consoling an injured person while talking to a 911 operator. “Pray, you’re okay,” the person said. Another person pleaded, “Please hurry.”
In one instance, a caller told the 911 operator they had fled to a river behind the bar and grill. The official advised the individual to leave the area immediately. However, the person reported losing their glasses and being unable to see. “I can’t [leave],” they exclaimed. “I’m blind,” they said, adding that they could hear other people in their location but didn’t know if it was the shooter or innocent bystanders.
Emergency operators appeared to remain calm throughout the exchanges. They advised callers to remain “as quiet as possible” and to “stay down” until they heard police officers announce their presence.
Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills appointed an independent commission to investigate the facts surrounding Card’s deadly rampage. He had reportedly displayed significant symptoms of a mental health decline in the months leading up to the incident.
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