An independent commission investigating Maine's deadliest mass shooting is preparing to hear from the shooter’s family for the first time. Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people with an assault rifle in Lewiston last October. Card was a hand grenade instructor in the reserves and had become so paranoid that his family went to police for help.
FILE - Community members look at a memorial outside Schemengees Bar & Grille about one week after a mass shooting, Nov. 3, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine . An independent commission investigating the mass shooting that left 18 people dead in Maine is scheduled to hear from the family of the shooter, Robert Card, for the first time on Thursday, May 15, 2024.
On Thursday, commissioners will take testimony from Card’s family. They’ve kept a low profile, other than releasing a statement in March afterthat showed evidence of traumatic brain injuries. Card had trained others in the use of hand grenades, and the Army said the analysis pointed to a need to do more to prevent blast-induced injuries.
“We want to begin by saying how deeply sorry and heartbroken we are for all the victims, survivors, and their loved ones, and to everyone in Maine and beyond who was affected and traumatized by this tragedy. We are hurting for you and with you, and it is hard to put into words how badly we wish we could undo what happened,” the family’s statement said.
Relatives had warned police that Card had grown paranoid and that they were concerned about his access to guns. Other reservists also witnessed his mental health deterioration, to the point that he was hospitalized for two weeks during training last summer. One of the reservists, Sean Hodgson,saying law enforcement should have seized Card’s guns and put him in protective custody based on these warnings, using the existing yellow flag law. A full report is due this summer.
Police testified that the family had agreed to remove Card’s guns, but the commission said that leaving this to his family “was an abdication of law enforcement’s responsibility.”
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