AUGUSTA, Maine — Family members of the Lewiston mass shooter are expected to answer questions Thursday from the commission investigating the tragedy.
Robert Card opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston on Oct. 25, killing 18 people and injuring more than a dozen others. It was the deadliest shooting in Maine history.
At both shooting locations, Card held a delusional belief that people were talking about him behind his back. Two days later, the 40-year-old Army reservist was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Thursday, the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston is scheduled to hear from members of Card's family. An official from the Army Reserves' Psychological Health Program was also scheduled to testify Thursday but had to cancel due to travel issues. It will be the commission's 11th public meeting, according to a press release.
Last month, the commission heard from Sean Hodgson, Card's friend and fellow Army reservist, who described publicly for the first time the warning he issued a month before the tragedy unfolded.
Hodgson texted leaders of his reserve unit six weeks before the shooting that left 18 people dead and 13 wounded, telling them to change the passcode to the gate at their Army Reserve training facility and arm themselves if Robert Card showed up.
Hodgson told the commission that he issued the warning to superiors after Card’s delusional and violent behavior spiraled and ended with Card punching him in the face.
"I said 'Just so you know, I love you. I’ll always be there for you. I won’t give up on you.' He had that blank stare on his face. It was a dead stare and he drove away," Hodgson recounted as his friend left him at a gas station.
But it wasn't just Hodgson who was worried about Card. Several other reservists witnessed his deterioration during training last summer. That led to a two-week hospitalization in July for Card, months after relatives warned police he had grown paranoid and that they were concerned about his access to guns.
The failure of authorities to remove Card’s weapons in the weeks before the shooting has become the subject of a monthslong investigation in the state, which also has passed new gun safety laws since the tragedy.
Thursday's testimony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the University of Maine at Augusta.