WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Lewiston Shooting Suspect Bought Rifle Before Hospitalization: Report

Sources told CNN that Card purchased a Ruger SFAR rifle 10 days before psychiatric evaluation in July.

The Ruger SFAR rifle believed to have been used by suspect Robert Card in two mass shootings in Maine was legally purchased just days before he was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation this summer, CNN reported, citing three unnamed law enforcement sources. Card is wanted as the primary suspect in the killing of 18 people on Wednesday, and remains at large nearly two full days later. Earlier this year Card was acting “belligerently and possibly intoxicated,” at Camp Smith where he was serving at the time, prompting a police response and his hospitalization in mid-July, the sources told CNN. Just 10 days prior to the incident Card had purchased the rifle at a gun store in Maine. A weapon found in Card’s car appears to match that used in the killings, although a ballistics match and fingerprint analysis have yet to confirm that, CNN reported, citing the sources.