A Lewiston Commission to investigate the deadliest shooting in Maine’s history nearly a year ago released their final findings Tuesday, stating there were several opportunities by the Army Reserve, law enforcement and others to change the tragic events that day.
On Oct. 25, 2023, a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 others in a local Lewiston bowling alley and bar and grill. The shooter, identified as 40-year-old Army reservist Robert Card, was found dead in a tractor-trailer in Lisbon two days later. An autopsy concluded he died by suicide.
“Within minutes, the safety and security that we all feel as Mainers was shattered,” Daniel Wathen, commission chair and former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, said at a press event Tuesday. “Robert Card is totally responsible for his own conduct, solely responsible. He caused deaths and injuries inflicted that night.
“We will never know if he might still have committed a mass shooting even if someone had managed to remove his firearms before Oct. 25,” Wathen added. “But the Commission unanimously found that there were several opportunities that, if taken, might have changed the course of these tragic events.”
Following the shooting, information emerged about how much the Army Reserve and local officials knew about Card’s ongoing mental health issues, hallucinations and threats to himself and the public — raising questions about what action could or should have been taken.
The Commission, appointed by Gov. Janet Mills, aimed to “find the facts so the law enforcement, military leaders, the public elected and appointed officials can make informed decisions to reduce the risk of such tragedies in the future,” not to make policy or operational recommendations, Wathen said. The Chair focused on three broad findings Tuesday.
First, the Commission affirmed a finding from March detailing the local Sheriff’s Office had cause to “take Card into protected custody under Maine’s Yellow Flag Law and initiate a petition to confiscate any firearms he possessed or over which he had control.” 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 to undertake necessary steps to reduce the threat he posed to the public,” Wathen said, detailing that commanding officers knew of “auditory hallucinations, increasingly aggressive behavior, collection of guns, almost comments about his intentions.”
Second, Wathen said, the leaders of Card’s Army Reserve unit knew of his auditory hallucinations, aggressive behavior, guns, and comments about his intentions; “ignored recommendations of Card’s mental health providers to stay engaged in his care and take steps to remove weapons from his home”; and neglected to share information with the Sheriff’s Office.
And lastly, the report finds “unprecedented” challenges and “at times utter chaos” for law enforcement following the shooting and recommends the Maine State Police commission a full independent after-action review.
“We hope this truth will help the healing process, while simultaneously enabling the public and policymakers to learn from mistakes,” said Wathen.
Families of the victims plan to hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon to respond to the findings.
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