AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey on Thursday formally established the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston.
On Oct. 25, Army reservist Robert Card opened fire inside a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, the second largest city in the state. The shootings killed 18 people, wounded 13, and sent the city into a lockdown until Card's body was discovered two days later. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Documents detail incident reports by two sheriff's deputies in Sagadahoc County who talked with Card's family members and the U.S. Army Reserve about what appeared to be a steady decline in his mental health and concern over his possession of firearms.
The commission, established through an executive order signed by Mills on Thursday, is tasked with determining the facts of the shootings, including the police response and the months that led up to the tragedy, the governor's office said in a release. It includes seven experts with extensive legal, investigative, and mental health backgrounds;
- The Honorable Daniel E. Wathen, Chair: Former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court
- Dr. Debra Baeder, Ph.D: Former Chief Forensic Psychologist for the State of Maine
- George (Toby) Dilworth: Former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maine and current Managing Director for Drummond Woodsum
- The Honorable Ellen Gorman: Former Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court
- The Honorable Geoffrey Rushlau: Former Maine District Court Judge and former District Attorney for Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo Counties
- Dr. Anthony Ng, MD: Board-certified psychiatrist and medical director of Community Services for Northern Light Acadia Hospital
- Paula Silsby: Former United States Attorney for the District of Maine
The commission will be funded through the Office of the Attorney General and will have staff, with the full scope of needed resources and any additional investigatory powers to be determined and requested by the commission itself, according to the governor's office.
In a joint letter to the commission's members, Mills and Frey said "each of you brings a wealth of personal and professional legal, behavioral, investigatory, or other experiences that will help bring to light these facts for all to know and understand," adding that each member is "highly respected for your abilities, your expertise, your impartiality, your integrity, and your fair-mindedness."
The governor and attorney general also urged the commission to conduct its work in public to the greatest extent possible, with a sense of urgency, guided by the pursuit of facts, and to issue a formal public report detailing their findings upon the conclusion of their investigation.