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The US Army reservist accused of killing 18 people and injuring 13 more in a shooting rampage across a small Maine city this week is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, multiple sources tell CNN.
Robert Card, 40, was found dead in the woods near Lisbon, some 8 miles from Lewiston, where Wednesday's shooting happened, the same sources said.
This follows a two-day manhunt that prompted shelter-in-place-orders and the shutdown of schools and businesses as law enforcement furiously pursued him after Wednesday's attack at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston.
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The attack was the deadliest US mass shooting since last year's massacre at a school in Uvalde, Texas.
Maine State Police plan to hold a news conference soon.
The gun investigators believe Card used to carry out the massacre was purchased legally just days before he was hospitalised and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
In mid-July, New York State Police were called to Camp Smith in Cortlandt, New York, the military base where Card served, because he was acting "belligerently and possibly intoxicated," according to a source briefed on the matter.
Three law enforcement sources confirm State Police brought Card to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for suspected intoxication and released the next day.
When asked for information about the encounter, a New York State Police spokesperson told CNN: "This is an active investigation, and the New York State Police does not comment on active investigations."
A federal law enforcement source told CNN the army gave Card a "Command Referral" to seek treatment after he told army personnel at Camp Smith Card had been "hearing voices" and had thoughts about "hurting other soldiers."
A National Guard spokesperson confirmed to CNN Card was transported to the nearby Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for "medical evaluation," after Army Reserve officials reported Card for "behaving erratically."
Card's encounters with New York State Police and his National Guard superiors occurred just 10 days after Card had purchased the high-powered rifle at a Maine gun store, according to law enforcement sources.
The rifle was a Ruger SFAR chambered for high-powered .308 ammunition, the sources added. The .308 round is favoured by military snipers firing at long distances and big game hunters.
It is larger and more powerful than the regular ammunition carried in the rifles of soldiers and SWAT teams.
Sources say the weapon found inside Card's 2013 white Subaru Outback appears to be the same one fired by the gunman at the bowling alley and a local bar, though a ballistics match has not been confirmed.
The weapon will be processed by the FBI and ATF for fingerprints and DNA and then run through laboratory testing to determine if the bullets and shell casings found at the scene match.
In the same July purchase, along with the rifle, sources say Card also bought a Beretta 92-F 9mm semi-automatic pistol. It is the standard pistol of the US military.
