The man who killed 18 people and wounded 13 more in Lewiston, Maine, marking the deadliest mass shooting in America this year, had paranoid beliefs that people were talking about him and may have been hearing voices, the authorities said on Saturday.
The man, Robert R. Card II, 40, had legally purchased several guns, some as recently as several days before the attack, officials said, and may have previously visited the two businesses — a bar and bowling alley — that he attacked on Wednesday evening.
The attack sparked a two-day manhunt that ended on Friday night when police found the man dead in a trailer at a recycling plant in Lisbon, where he had once worked. Officials said he appeared to have shot himself. The revelation brought a sense of relief through Lewiston and neighboring towns, where residents had been sheltering in place and many businesses were shuttered.
On Saturday, officials provided more details about the gunman, who was in the Army Reserve and had grown up in Bowdoin, near Lewiston.
“There’s paranoia, there’s some conspiracy theorist piece,” said Commissioner Michael J. Sauschuck of the state’s public safety department. He said the man “felt like people were talking about him” and may have been hearing voices.
The police have said that Mr. Card, carrying a semiautomatic rifle, began his attack at a bowling alley just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, firing in the business where children and adults had been bowling just moments before. He fled the scene but continued his rampage at a bar about four miles away, leaving 18 people dead across both scenes and 13 people injured.
Those who were killed ranged in age from 14 to 76, including a father and son and several people who were part of a deaf group of friends who were playing cornhole in the bar.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
