BOWDOIN, Maine — Sgt. Aaron Skolfield, a Sagadahoc County deputy who has faced criticism from the commission investigating the Lewiston mass shooting, has entered the race for county sheriff.
The commission, formed by Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey, released its initial report on Friday, which found law enforcement agencies had enough information to trigger Maine's yellow-flag law and issue an arrest warrant for Robert 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 on Oct. 25.
Skolfield chose not to pursue criminal charges or try to seize Robert Card's weapons during multiple well-being checks at Card's home in September. Skolfield 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."
“Sgt. Skolfield made only limited attempts to accomplish a 'face-to-face' meeting with Mr. Card,” the report continues. “He failed to consult the agency’s records concerning a previous complaint about Mr. Card, failed to contact the individual who was assaulted by Mr. Card and heard his threat, and he failed to follow up on leads to determine how to contact Mr. Card.”
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.”
Skolfield has entered the sheriff's race as a Republican. Incumbent Sheriff Joel Merry, who has defended his department's handling of the Card case, is running as a Democrat.
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Full initial report from The Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston