What Kind of Spree Killer was Robert Card?

Art by K. Ramsland

Robert Card, 40, killed 18 folks and injured 13 other people at a cafe and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine this week, then fled, sparking a enormous lookup. We’re nevertheless asking yourself about his motive, but some clues give context. This past summertime, Card underwent remedy in a mental health facility after he’d built threats and noted “hearing voices.” He still left a be aware that recommended he did not program to be uncovered alive. Two days right after the capturing, he was discovered lifeless from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the vicinity of a facility from which he’d reportedly shed his job.

Card had committed a multicide, but what variety? Even though the FBI ceased utilizing the designation of “spree killer” soon after its international conference in 2005, he matches the definition. Researchers in criminology who target on developmental, psychological, and predictive difficulties in homicidal functions identify price in retaining the distinctive groups of serial, mass, and spree. Even subtle variances can be essential for intervention, investigative management, and chance analysis.

With former FBI profiler Mark Safarik (an organizer of that aforementioned 2005 meeting), I developed a extensive databases, described and analyzed in Spree Killers: Practical Classifications for Legislation Enforcement and Criminology. We described the multicide groups as follows:

1. Mass murder consists of at minimum 4 fatalities in a short-lived incident in one particular basic locale, even if the killer travels to several loosely similar places in that basic area (these types of as in a constructing or heading upcoming doorway).
2. Spree killing involves at the very least 3 murders in at least two locations, arising from a critical precipitating incident that continuously fuels the have to have to get rid of, and the murders occur quite shut in time.
3. Serial murder will involve at least two murders in two independent incidents (the FBI’s most latest definition).

Card traveled to two individual spots about 4 miles aside to full his assault, and he killed additional than a few people today. He’s a spree killer.

Mass murderers and spree killers are often driven by anger, a mission, or desperation, with the spree killer stringing out the assaults for a lengthier interval and about a broader established of locales. Within these designations are distinct groups dependent on motive, behavior, and mental condition.

As we gathered above 350 situations involving 419 spree killers (some labored in teams) from additional than 40 countries, we noticed obvious groupings. Categorizing them authorized for info analytics and a nuanced way to fully grasp people who destroy in a spree-like method. We produced five most important classes, some of which have subcategories.

1. Anger and Revenge (Specific, Qualified and Random or Opportunistic, and Random or Opportunistic)
2. Mission (Psychotic and Non-psychotic)
3. Desperation
4. Mental Ailment (no stated mission)
5. Theft and Thrill (Groups and Lone Operators)

We also recognized mixed kinds, such as serial-turned-spree.

Because we’re even now awaiting details about Card’s affiliation with his target locales or victims, his fast psychological point out, and context concerning likely paranoia, we can not be confident about his classification, but he’s obviously not in #5. The career loss and the report of listening to voices suggest desperation (7% of spree killers) or psychological disease (12%), but if anger drove him to the two areas to complete something like payback, he could be in group #1 (30.6%). This category, Anger/Revenge, is distinct from mission-driven, which usually has a religious or political context.

Card killed himself afterward. Apparently, he was carried out. From his observe, he appeared to know ahead of he begun that this was how it would close. About 23.6% of the spree killers in our analyze committed suicide or attempted to. This determine skews decrease than predicted due to Category #5, which is massive and typically non-suicidal. Also, among those people who died in a shoot-out with police, it is not achievable to say unless they still left a observe or showed certainly suicidal actions. Many of people who finished their life through the spree have been in the Desperation group (48% suicides or tries). In the Psychological Illness group, one of 3 had killed them selves or attempted to, and about 37% did so in the Anger/Revenge class.

Those motivated by anger or revenge might concentrate on each victim or just some victims with some others randomly decided on. Or they could destroy solely randomly or opportunistically. In other text, some spree killers with a grudge or the will need to look for revenge or payback have unique targets, whilst many others have a more generalized want to just act out. Spree killers with obvious targets are most conveniently discovered and likely stopped. Increase the mission-enthusiastic class (which aids to forecast groups and destinations) and the share of all those spree killers who may be stopped shorter of their targets rises to just about 40%.

It will probably be a although before we can categorize Card and discover if he confirmed unique behavioral leaks that may well have alerted an individual to his imminent intent, but it’s previously clear he experienced mental health and fitness considerations and entry to deadly weapons. We’re finding improved at recognizing the clues and transferring to intervene, but we need to strengthen.