LEWISTON, Maine — Attorneys representing families who lost loved ones in the Lewiston mass shooting held a press conference Tuesday after a new report from the U.S. Army Reserves was released.
Trial attorneys Travis Brennan and Benjamin Gideon said the report paints a clear picture that Robert Card showed clear warning signs that he was a threat to those around him at least six months before the mass shooting occurred.
According to Gideon, there were several missteps taken by those who were supposed to intervene, which likely hindered them from preventing the mass shooting.
"It's hard to think of one that was more preventable," Gideon said. "With more advanced notice and warning signs and personnel that could have acted and intervened and prevented it which is what makes it such a tragedy."
Robert Card was admitted to Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in New York on July 15, and he was later released Aug. 3.
There is some discrepancy about whether Card was under the Army's jurisdiction after he was released from the hospital.
Brennan said he and his team does not have any documentation from the hospital that details Card's mental state while he was hospitalized or shortly after. They also don't know if there were any requirements or conditions of Card's release.
Brennan said a report from the inspector general shows that Card was not on active-duty orders when he was released, making the Army not responsible for his care, but the new report from the U.S. Army Reserves clearly states that Card was improperly released from his active-duty orders.
The report states because Card was hospitalized, his active-duty army orders should have been extended. It also revealed that Card's hospitalization should prompted the army to further observe and evaluate him, explaining that the Army failed to conduct a line of duty investigation.
The line of duty investigation should have been completed while Card was at the Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital or immediately after he was released, the report said. This investigation would have further evaluated Card's behavior and conduct.
Brennan said the report shows that the army failed to adhere to protocol and did not properly intervene, and they were aware that he was a danger to the community.
"The clear gap here is that the minute he left the hospital and went out into the community, where was the protection for everyone in the community? Where was that?" Brennan said.
Attorneys Brennan and Gideon have several questions, including why Card's guns and weapons were not confiscated. They are also skeptical of whether Card's admission to the psychiatric hospital was voluntary.
An involuntary admission would have activated Maine's yellow flag law that prevents anyone who is hospitalized for mental instability from purchasing firearms.
"They say it's voluntary and they don't have to report him, and he can continue to have his firearms," Gideon said. "So, they're just entertaining a fiction that doesn't square with the reality of the situation."
Attorneys said details from the report indicate that breakdowns in communication, improper adherence to protocol, and poor response to warnings led to the tragedy.
"For the first time, in this report, we hear descriptions that Robert Card actually had a quote, unquote 'hit list,'" Brennan said. "On September 13, 2023, Robert Card told a fellow unit member that he could quote 'take out one hundred people with this expensive scope that he had just bought' and that he had a list of different places he could quote 'shoot up.'"
Brennan said he and attorneys are continuing to collect information about Card's downward spiral. He said it would be premature to say who should be held accountable for the events that led to the mass shooting.
Both attorneys agreed that the evidence will determine who should be held responsible.