LEWISTON, MAINE: Jennifer Coffey, a mother from Lewiston, Maine, has come forward with a revelation about her teenage son's encounter with Robert Card, the man suspected to be responsible for a horrifying shooting rampage that claimed at least 18 lives and left a dozen others injured.
Coffey, the manager of 207THC, a downtown marijuana dispensary, disclosed to The US Sun that over the summer, her 14-year-old son crossed paths with Card at Schemengees Bar, the very location where part of the shooting spree unfolded.
Jennifer Coffey says her son remembered Robert Card as a completely unassuming individual
Coffey shared that her son and Card, both avid participants in cornhole competitions, had met during the summer. Her son not only knew Card but also triumphed over him in a cornhole contest.
The shocking part was how Card graciously accepted the defeat. Coffey recounted, "[My son] said he took it really well, he shook his hand and everything and told him, 'If you were older, you played so good I'd have bought you a beer.'"
Coffey's son remembered Card as a completely unassuming individual, and there was no hint of any negative behavior during their interactions.
Robert Card was a regular at the locations he attacked
The connection between Card and Schemengees Bar ran deeper. Card was a regular at the bar, as well as at Just-in-Time Recreation. Friends and family members revealed that he was an avid cornhole player.
On the night of the devastating shooting, a cornhole tournament for members of the local deaf community was taking place at Schemengees, further intertwining Card's history with the location.
Card's sister-in-law, Katie O'Neill, disclosed in an interview with The Daily Beast that he had recently suffered significant hearing loss and relied on high-powered hearing aids.
Paranoia had gripped him as he believed he could hear voices of people talking about him in both the bar and the bowling alley in the months leading up to the tragedy. O'Neill described the family's attempts to reassure Card, saying, "We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him."
Robert Card's body was found at his former workplace in Lisbon Falls
The night of the shooting witnessed a horrifying chain of events. Card, 40 years old, is suspected to have initiated the violence at the Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston at around 6.55 pm, taking the lives of seven individuals.
He then drove four miles to Schemengees Bar and Grille, where he proceeded to murder eight more people. Three others died at a hospital. An additional 13 individuals sustained serious injuries, with some remaining in critical condition in the hospital.
Following the rampage, a massive manhunt was launched, spanning multiple counties and involving various law enforcement agencies.
On Friday night, Card's lifeless body was discovered at a Maine recycling plant in Lisbon Falls, his former workplace. It is believed that he took his own life by shooting himself in the head, still wearing the same clothes he had on during the night of the rampage.
