Sean Hodgson looked after his friend Robert Card, whom he had known for almost two decades. He saw his former roommate and US Army reservist become paranoid and enraged, while having access to weapons and refusing to accept help. Hodgson did what he says was the hardest thing in his life and reported it all to his superior in the army.
"I think he's going to snap and commit mass murder," he wrote in a text message on September 15.
Six weeks later, on October 25, Card killed 18 people at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine. He was on the run for two days, after which his body was found. It is assumed that he killed himself.
"I wasn't in his head and I don't know exactly what he was going through. But I know I was right," Hodgson said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
Many warning signs regarding Card have been documented. In May, his relatives warned police that he was becoming paranoid and were concerned because he had a weapon. In July, Card was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for two weeks after he pushed a reservist and locked himself in a motel room. In August, the army banned him from carrying weapons while on duty.
His friend sent the clearest warning in September, telling the authorities to change the code at the entrance to the military reservist training center, and to arm themselves if Kard showed up.
"Please, I don't think he's right in the head," Hodgson wrote.
But authorities refused to confront Card and thus failed to intervene and prevent the largest mass killing in Maine history.
It is very difficult for Hodgson to accept, and he rejects the allegations of the police, who in the report described him as a man who exaggerates.
"I did what I could, even more than that, I literally drew them what he was going to do. I don't know if I could have told them that more clearly."
His story, however, gives a clearer insight into what was left to be done to prevent the massacre.
The Army, in a response to Associated Press questions about the investigation and Hodgson's warnings, said it should not jump to conclusions until an independent investigation by the Army's inspector general is completed.
"Speculation at this point, when we don't know all the details, could affect the outcome of the investigation. More details will be known when the investigation is completed," said reserve spokesman Eddie Lionhart.
Sheriff Joel Merry, who oversees Sagadahoc County, where Card lived, did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether Hodgson's warnings were taken seriously, but previously said his office had been "completely transparent" in working with the independent commission appointed by the governor. .
Hodgson says he does not know where the lapses occurred, but believes more could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
She says that over the years of their friendship, Kard was the one who was "sensitive". They met in 2006 in the army and became close when they divorced almost at the same time.
When Hodgson was evicted from his apartment in New Hampshire in 2022, Card suggested he move to Maine and they lived together for about a month. When Card was discharged from the hospital, Hodgson brought him home.
Then, he says, Kard already started complaining to him that people around him thought he was a pedophile. That case was actually a case of mistaken identity - because there was a sex offender Robert Card - and allegedly a father sheltered his daughter in a bowling alley when Card contacted her.
"I always trusted him and was by his side. I was the closest to him, because he pushed everyone else away from him except his mother," Hodgson told AP.
One night after going out to the casino, Card "started throwing a tantrum, hitting the steering wheel and almost causing a couple of crashes," Hodgson says. When he asked him to stop, Card punched him in the face.
"We had a good time and his film broke when he was dressed".
Two days later Hodgson texted the supervisor, warning him of what Card might do. He didn't talk to him after that, but they met at work.
"It took me a long time to report someone I love. But you have to react when you're afraid."
After the text messages, military officials contacted him and asked if Card had threatened anyone specifically, to which Hodgson said he had not. But they didn't ask further how to find Kard - even though they knew they were working together, and that he knew his schedule.
"I could tell them when he was at work, when he was at home, what time," says Hodgson.
The authorities once came to the center for military reservists and to Kardo's house. But they did not confront him for fear he would "throw dynamite," according to a video released by the Sagadahok County Sheriff's Office.
And those recordings show that Hodgson's warnings were dismissed, with suggestions that he may have been drunk when he texted them at 2am. Captain Jeremy Raymer said Hodgson was "not the most credible of all soldiers", and that his messages should be taken with a grain of salt. He declined to answer questions from The Associated Press.
Hodgson says he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, but that he did not drink alcohol that night because he was working the night shift and waiting for a call from his boss. He also admits to being charged with assaulting a woman in 2022 and drinking alcohol last month. But he believes that the authorities had to trust him based on his previous work experience.
"I'm furious because they should have just listened to me".
An investigation into the conduct of the police found that the officers did not have sufficient grounds to force their way into Cardo's home after he refused to open the door for them.
But Stephanie Sherman, an attorney who represented several families in Juvalde, Texas, said police had enough information to bring them before a local judge, who would issue a warrant. She believes that the police officers had a disturbingly casual approach to Kardo, among other things, because his family is well-known in the area, so they didn't want it to be known that the police were coming to his door.
"And it was a balancing act between public safety and family reputation. And that shouldn't be a factor," she says.
After alerting authorities about Card, Hodgson says he prayed none of it would come true. But when he heard about the mass shooting, he informed his superior.
"I told him I don't believe in coincidences and that I think Robert Card did it."
Hodgson said he was on his way to work in Massachusetts when he heard the news. He called the police and other authorities, but he says it seemed to him that they were not communicating with each other.
More than two months after the massacre, Hodgson says he is outraged that Card took the "easy way out" of the situation and is not there to answer for what he did. And it's not the Robert Card he's known for almost 20 years.
He says he wants people to know that he did everything he could to save lives.
"I don't know how to explain how much I loved him and cared for him. And how much I hate what he did."
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