A laboratory found a pattern of cell damage that has been seen in #veterans exposed to #weapons blasts, & said it probably played a role in the gunman’s spiral into #violence.
A specialized laboratory examining the #brain of the gunman who committed #Maine’s deadliest #MassShooting found profound #BrainDamage of the kind that has been seen in #veterans exposed to repeated blasts from #weapons use.
The lab’s findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief ME’s office & released by the #gunman’s family.
The #gunman, #RobertCard, was a #grenade instructor in the #ArmyReserve. In 2023, after 8 yrs of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing #voices & was stalked by #paranoid#delusions. He grew increasingly erratic & #violent in the months before the Oct rampage in #Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people & then himself.
His brain was sent to a #Veterans Affairs laboratory in Boston that is known for its pioneering work documenting chronic #traumatic#encephalopathy, or #CTE, in athletes.
Acc/to the lab’s report, prepared on Feb 26 & updated on Wednesday, the white matter that forms the wiring deep in the #brain had “moderately severe” damage, & in some areas was missing entirely.
The delicate tissue sheaths that insulate each biological circuit lay in “disorganized clumps,” & throughout #RobertCard’s #brain there was scarring & inflammation suggesting repeated #trauma.
This was not #CTE, the report said. It was a characteristic pattern of damage that has been found before in #military#veterans who were repeatedly exposed to #weapons#blasts during their service.
As I read about the man "missed red flags" AP finds in the case of Maine mass shooter Robert Card — multiple reports of concerning incidents over a considerable period of time with, as CNN is reporting "lack of follow-through," I wonder if, had Card been a Black man, say, or a man with immigrant background and not a white man who was a Sergeant First Class in the Army Reserves, so many warning signs would have been missed.
#RobertCard, the 40-yr-old suspect in the country’s deadliest mass killing of the year, is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement ofcl told The AP. Authorities in #Maine, who were in the midst of a massive manhunt, have scheduled a news conference for 10PM.
@thor Yeah there was an analyst/guest on #NewsNation's #Cuomo show speculating that #RobertCard might have been rejected by a crush or something
Completely disagree with that assessment, I would expect that someone who did a shooting in response to that would do more targeted attacks than shooting large groups of random people in generalized areas not particularly habited by people in narrow or precisely defined demographics.
Like wasn't that incel shooting of a nail salon targeted by someone due to sexual frustration or addiction or something?
The #Maine State Police tweeted that officers are executing search warrants on Meadow Rd in #Bowdoin.
Multiple news outlets reported hearing announcements from police for someone to come outside w/ their hands up. “The announcements being heard over a loud speaker are standard. … It is unknown whether #RobertCard is in any of the homes,” Maine State Police said.