Mass shooter Robert Card likely had traumatic brain injury, family says

The mass-shooting Army Reservist who gunned down 18 people and injured more than a dozen others in Maine last year likely suffered from a traumatic brain injury stemming from his time as a military hand grenade instructor, according to his family.

Tissue analysis on the remains of Robert Card III revealed that he “had evidence of a traumatic brain injury,” according to the findings released Wednesday by his family in conjunction with the Boston University Concussion Legacy Foundation. 

“In the white matter, the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain, there was significant degeneration, axonal and myelin loss, inflammation, and small blood vessel injury,” Dr. Ann McKee wrote in the statement.

Card’s brain tissue showed no evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), McKee said.

 “These findings align with our previous studies on the effects of blast injury in humans and experimental models,” the physician explained.

“While I cannot say with certainty that these pathological findings underlie Mr. Card’s behavioral changes in the last 10 months of life, based on our previous work, brain injury likely played a role in his symptoms,” she concluded.

Card, 40, was a longtime instructor at an Army hand grenade range, where he was exposed to “thousands” of low-level blasts, the Concussion Legacy Foundation noted. 

The father of one killed 18 people and wounded 13 of others in the devastating Oct. 25 mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar in downtown Lewiston.

He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a trailer after a two-day manhunt.

Authorities later revealed that Card – who was briefly hospitalized last summer due to concerns over his wellbeing – was alive up until eight to 12 hours before his body was discovered.

The Maine Chief Medical Examiner’s office requested a post-mortem study of Card’s brain in the wake of the horrific mass shooting.

“We want to begin by saying how deeply sorry and heartbroken we are for all the victims, survivors, and their loved ones, and to everyone in Maine and beyond who was affected and traumatized by this tragedy,” Card’s family said in the Concussion Legacy Center’s press release.

“We are hurting for you and with you, and it is hard to put into words how badly we wish we could undo what happened,” the loved ones added, noting that “while we cannot go back, we are releasing the findings of Robert’s brain study with the goal of supporting ongoing efforts to learn from this tragedy to ensure it never happens again.”

“By releasing these findings, we hope to raise awareness of traumatic brain injury among military service members, and we encourage more research and support for military service members with traumatic brain injuries,” the family said.

Card’s brain will continue to be studied, according to the Concussion Legacy Center.

Army personnel are also set to testify on Thursday before the state commission investigating the shooting, which was the deadliest in Maine’s history, the Portland Press-Herald reported.