Army reservists deflect blame when questioned about Lewiston, Maine, shooting that left 18 dead
U.S. Army reservists who worked with Maine gunman Robert Card deflected blame Thursday during independent commission hearing investigating the state’s worst mass shooting.
U.S. Army reservists who worked with Maine gunman Robert Card deflected blame Thursday when an independent commission investigating the state’s worst mass shooting questioned whether the military should have tried harder to restrict Card’s access to firearms.
The commission, established by Gov. Janet Mills, has been holding a series of hearings in Augusta to investigate the shooting that left 18 people dead at a bowling alley and then a bar in Lewiston last October. The testimony follows scrutiny about whether enough was done to prevent the massacre.
Card, 40, suffered severe mental health issues that were known to law enforcement and were well documented by the Army for months before the shooting, authorities and his family said.
On Thursday, members of the Army Reserve testified about the two weeks Card spent in a psychiatric hospital in New York last July as well as Card’s later threats to “shoot up” the Saco armory where his unit was headquartered.
When the commission asked whether the Army thought to do something about Card’s access to weapons, Staff Sgt. Matthew Noyes said that “responsibility fell on the local law enforcement.”
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