Army and police missed “several opportunities” to potentially prevent the Lewiston tragedy

A Lewiston commission investigating the deadliest shooting in Maine history nearly a year ago released its final findings Tuesday, saying there were several opportunities for the Army Reserve, police and others to change the tragic events of that day.

On October 25, 2023, a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 others at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston. The gunman, identified as 40-year-old reservist Robert Card, was found dead in a semi-trailer in Lisbon two days later. An autopsy determined he died by suicide.

“Within minutes, the safety that we all feel as Maine residents was shattered,” said Daniel Wathen, chairman of the commission and former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court, at a press conference on Tuesday. “Robert Card is fully responsible for his own conduct, he alone. He caused the deaths and injuries that occurred that night.”

“We will never know whether he could have still committed mass murder even if someone had managed to take his weapons away from him before October 25,” Wathen added. “But the commission unanimously concluded that there were several opportunities that, if exploited, could have changed the course of these tragic events.”

After the shooting, information came to light about how much the Army Reserve and local authorities knew about Card's ongoing mental health issues, hallucinations, and threats against himself and the public, raising questions about what actions could or should have been taken.

The goal of the commission, appointed by Governor Janet Mills, is to “establish facts so that law enforcement, military leadership, public officials, and elected and appointed officials can make informed decisions to reduce the risk of such tragedies in the future,” but not to make policy or operational recommendations, Wathen said. The chairman focused on three general findings on Tuesday.

First, the commission affirmed a March finding that the local sheriff's office had reason to “take Card into custody pursuant to the State of Maine's Yellow Flag Law and file a motion to seize all firearms in his possession or control.” However, the office did not do so.

“Second, the commission finds that the leaders of his Army Reserve unit failed to exercise their authority over him and take the necessary steps to reduce the threat he posed to the public,” Wathen said, noting that commanders were aware of “auditory hallucinations, increasingly aggressive behavior, weapons collection, and near-commentary statements about his intentions.”

Second, Wathen said, leaders of Card's Army Reserve unit knew about his auditory hallucinations, aggressive behavior, weapons and comments about his intentions. They “ignored recommendations from Card's psychiatrists to continue to care for him and take steps to remove the weapons from his home” and failed to pass on information to the sheriff's office.

Finally, the report finds that law enforcement faced “unprecedented” challenges and “at times complete chaos” following the shooting and recommends that the Maine State Police Commission conduct a comprehensive, independent debriefing of the events.