An independent commission found the Army failed to address the mental health of a reservist before he opened fire last year in Lewistown, killing 18 people in Maine’s deadliest mass shooting.
A report, released Tuesday by the panel created by Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to investigate the shooting, details “several opportunities” that could have prevented the Oct. 25 shooting at a recreation center and a separate bar.
The local sheriff’s office had the opportunity to take the shooter, Robert Card, into custody under a yellow flag law and confiscate his weapons in September 2023, the report said.
But, the commission said, the Army Reserve also did not share relevant information with police and “failed to undertake necessary steps to reduce the threat he posed to the public,” including taking his weapons.
“His commanding officers were well aware of his auditory hallucinations, increasingly aggressive behavior, collection of guns, and ominous comments about his intentions,” the report states. Despite their knowledge, they ignored the strong recommendations of Card’s Army mental health providers to stay engaged with his care.
Card, who joined the Army Reserves in 2003, escaped after the shooting, initiating a manhunt. He was found four days later, dead from a self-inflicted wound.
Warning signs for Card stretched back as early as May 2023, when his son reported to his mother that Card was acting erratic, according to the report.
They both reported their concerns about Card to the police, who then contacted First Sgt. Kelvin Mote, the senior noncommissioned officer of his unit.
Mote reported changes in Card and promised to sit down with him to discuss his mental health, but the commission report said there is no evidence the Army Reserves intervened and discussed the concerns with him.
Card’s brother and sister also tried to get him help but were not able to get in touch with the Army, the report said. Card exhibited other warning signs, including at a training deployment at a New York National Guard facility in July 2023, when he talked about another woman referring to him as a pedophile and assaulted one of his friends, which forced him to lock himself in his room.
After the New York incident, Card was taken to a hospital, where doctors said he exhibited psychosis and paranoia, according to the report. During a psychological exam, Card mentioned having a hit list.
A doctor recommended that Capt. Jeremy Reamer, the company commander, remove Card’s personal weapons from the home, along with other recommendations to treat his mental health, but the commission report said Reamer “neglected to follow any of the recommendations.
“Reamer failed to follow up with treatment providers, failed to read email messages concerning Card, failed to heed the advice of the providers to ensure the removal of all firearms from Card’s home,” the report reads. “Card was left to continue in his isolation, disengaged from other unit members or other sources of support.”
Reamer has said publicly and to the commission that he had limited authority to intervene in the case because Card was in the reserves and not a full-time soldier. But the commission said he did not use the tools available to him to address the concerns about Card, including engaging with him or ordering a mental health evaluation.
Card was discharged from the hospital in August. In September, Card threatened his unit, prompting a police investigation, but no arrests were made and his guns were not confiscated, while Reamer continued to downplay the risk that Card posed to police, the commission said.
“Reamer did not suggest that Card needed to undergo a risk assessment, and despite acknowledging that ‘I don’t think this is gonna get any better,’ he appeared to minimize the risk that Card posed to the community,” the report stated.
The independent commission held public hearings and met with victims of the shooting, as well as officials, to compile the report. An interim report was released in March.
