Op-ed, "How does the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, compare to others?” featured in Czech media, G.CZ
How does the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, compare to others?
Jak se jeví masová střelba v Lewistonu ve státě Maine v porovnání s ostatními?
On October 25, 2023, the large and historically peaceful northeastern state of Maine experienced one of the most horrific mass shootings in American history when forty-year-old Robert Russell Card II carried out several shooting attacks in the town of Lewiston with meticulous care. Maine is known as a sparsely populated state with cold winters and beautiful nature. It is also generally considered one of the safest places in the United States. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the number of people killed in Maine does not exceed 20 per year, one of the lowest rates in the entire country. During this mass shooting, 18 people died and 13 were injured. Card's shooting spree began around 7 p.m. in a bowling alley full of young people, killing seven civilians. Armed with a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle, he went inside and started shooting. He then went to another location, the Schemengees Bar & Grille in another area, just six kilometers away, and shot and killed eight people. Three others later died in hospital.
Card was a firearms instructor and as such had more knowledge of lethal weapons and apparently planned his attack in advance, leaving a note for his family with bank details, passwords, and other information. Readers who are familiar with mass shootings may consider this particular case to be an ordinary or typical example of an average incident, but in reality it stands out a bit. The shooting took place in several places, which formally still falls under the category of mass shootings (according to common professional definitions), but at the same time this case is characterized by several circumstances that are quite unique. The search for the assailant, which followed the shooting, dragged on for two days. It is very common for the relevant authorities to intervene against the shooter relatively quickly, and there are only a few other cases where the shooter has not been found more than 24 hours after the shooting itself. In this case, it is also interesting that Card took his own life after two days on the run. Nearly half of all mass shooters (in the U.S. context) commit suicide after a shooting attack, but few take their own lives after eluding authorities for a long time. During my recent scientific research on mass shootings, I discovered that there are some important similarities between the shootings that took place in the United States and the attacks that occurred in Central and Eastern Europe. Mass shootings in the U.S. tend to have more deaths (on average, 8 people are killed and 14 injured per case), while in Central and Eastern Europe the average is only around 5 deaths. The average age of the attackers in both cases is very similar – approximately 34 years.
So far, it has emerged that Card had mental health problems of such magnitude that he had to be hospitalized in a mental health clinic in July this year after threatening mass shooting at a National Guard base. After a few weeks, he was released from the psychiatric facility and was able to acquire weapons. Although he was not allowed to buy a silencer for one of his guns due to psychiatric history, he was able to buy guns. When it comes to firearms, the state of Maine is known to be one of the most liberal due to its sparse population and hunting culture. It is true that the authorities had received information about Card's intention to commit a violent act a month before the shooting, but there was little they could do. This is because no state in the U.S. has strict regulations that prevent individuals from purchasing weapons from third parties. At this point, we still don't know anything about Card's motivation, but it appears that he was mentally ill, and before taking his own life, he tried to commit violence against innocent people.