PORTLAND, Maine — Robert Card, who committed the worst mass shooting in Maine's history, should have been taken into custody before the Oct. 25 tragedy, a commission announced Friday.
The commission, formed by Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey to investigate the shooting, released its initial report, which found law enforcement agencies had enough information to trigger Maine's yellow-flag law and issue an arrest warrant for Card, an Army reservist from Bowdoin who used an assault rifle to shoot and kill 18 people at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston.
Before the shooting, Card was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and was well-known to law enforcement. His family and fellow service members alerted authorities about his deteriorating mental health and potential for violence before the shootings.
The report singled out the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office:
"As of September 17, 2023, the (sheriff's office) had information that a member of its community with serious mental illness, had been hospitalized for two weeks related to that illness, had access to 10-15 firearms, had assaulted his friend days earlier, had threatened to shoot up the drill center in Saco and other places, and had threated to 'get' his superiors who were responsible for his hospitalization," the report found. "Law enforcement had more than sufficient information to pursue criminal assault charges against Mr. Card. ... Had they done so, an arrest warrant could have been secured and Mr. Card could have been taken into custody. The prosecutor could then have requested bail conditions that prohibited Mr. Card’s ownership or possession of firearms."
Led by a former chief justice of Maine’s highest court, the commission also included a former U.S. attorney and the former chief forensic psychologist for the state. It held seven sessions starting in November, hearing from law enforcement, survivors, and victims’ family members and members of the U.S. Army Reserve as it explored whether anything could have been done to prevent the tragedy and what changes should be made going forward.
Sgt. Aaron Skolfield, of the sheriff's office, visited Card's home in December for a welfare check. He said he didn't see Card and, therefore, could not establish probable cause to start the yellow-flag process.
"However, it has been long established in Maine that a police officer may determine probable cause through the collective knowledge of all law enforcement officers involved in an investigation," the report found. "The Commission finds that there is a misperception among some law enforcement officers, including Sgt. Skolfield, that they need to have a victim 'press charges' to bring a case to the prosecutor’s office. This is simply wrong. It is the prosecutor, acting on behalf of the citizens of Maine, who brings the charges, but a prosecutor can only act when those charged with investigating crimes, i.e., law enforcement officers, follow through with their investigations."
In May, relatives warned police that Card had grown paranoid, and they expressed concern about his access to guns. In July, Card was hospitalized in a psychiatric unit for two weeks after shoving a fellow reservist and locking himself in a motel room. In August, the Army barred him from handling weapons while on duty and declared him nondeployable. And in September, a fellow reservist texted an Army supervisor about his growing concerns about Card, saying, “I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.”
But law enforcement officials told commission members Maine’s yellow-flag law makes it difficult to remove guns from potentially dangerous people.
The commission said it will continue to investigate the circumstances of the shooting and issue a final report: "More work needs to be done and it will be done -- the victims, their families and the people of Maine deserve no less."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.