The Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston on Tuesday released its final report on the Oct. 25, 2023, shootings that claimed 18 lives and injured 13 others.
The 215-page report is the result of over 16 public hearings, several private meetings and the review of a large quantity of documents and records undertaken by the Independent Commission since it was established by executive order by Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) in November 2023.
On the evening of Oct. 25, 2023, 40-year-old Army Reservist Robert Card shot and killed 18 people and injured more than a dozen others at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston.
After an over 48-hour manhunt, Card was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a tractor-trailer near a recycling center in Lisbon where had recently been employed.
In a news conference Tuesday morning, Independent Commission Chairman Dan Wathen began by acknowledging the victims, survivors and family members impacted by the Oct. 25 shootings.
“None of us can begin to imagine the pain that you experienced on that terrible day, nor the hurt with which you continue to live,” Wathen said. “Despite – or maybe because of – that agony and grief, many of you chose to share your very personal stories with the Commission either privately or publicly.”
“We remain impressed by your courage and your resilience, and we thank you for your determination to help this Commission fulfill the mission that the Governor and Attorney General laid out for us last fall,” Wathen said.
Wathen then detailed the three primary findings of the Independent Commission’s final report, which stem from the Commission’s unanimous finding that “there were several opportunities that, if taken, might have changed the course of events.”
First, the Independent Commission affirmed what if found in an interim report released in March — that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office has “sufficient probable cause to take Card into protective custody under Maine’s yellow flag law” in order to petition to confiscate his firearms.
While the Commission found that the Sheriff’s Office was not given all the relevant information from the Army Reserve about Card’s deteriorating mental health and erratic behavior, they nevertheless said that the “circumstances existing and known” to the Sheriff’s Office was enough to justify starting the yellow flag process on Card.
[RELATED: Cases Less Severe Than Robert Card Triggered Maine’s Yellow Flag Law Firearm Restrictions… ]
Second, Wathen said the Commission found that the leaders of Card’s Army Reserve Unit “failed to exercise their authority over Robert Card and to undertake necessary steps to reduce the threat he posed to the public.”
“Card’s commanding officers knew of his auditory hallucinations, increasingly aggressive behavior, collection of guns, and ominous comments about his intentions,” Wathen said.
“Despite their knowledge, they ignored the strong recommendations of Card’s mental health providers to stay engaged with his care and take steps to remove weapons from his home,” he added.
[RELATED: New Video of Lewiston Shooter Confronted by Police Three Months Before Shooting…]
The Army Reserve also neglected to share all of the information they had related to Card’s behavior and “discounted” some of the evidence about the threat he posed, the Commission found.
“Had members of Card’s Army Reserve unit presented a full and complete accounting of the facts, the Sheriff’s Office might have acted more assertively in September,” Wathen said.
The third finding of the Independent Commission’s final report focuses on the challenges law enforcement faced when responding to the shootings on the night of Oct. 25, 2023, and during the subsequent search for Robert Card.
Though Wathen praised law enforcement’s “bravery and professionalism,” he said that their response during the first hours following the shootings were, at times, “utter chaos” due to large number of officers pouring into Lewiston and to numerous scenes throughout the area.
The Independent Commission is recommending that the Maine State Police conduct a “full after-action review” alongside an independent evaluation in order for the agency to receive “professional recommendations about policy, protocol, and other policing improvements.”
The Commission was not charged with making any policy recommendations to lawmakers or to government agencies regarding access to firearms or changes to Maine state law, and was not given any authority to “sanction or discipline anyone who failed to live up to their duty,” Wathen said at the Tuesday news conference.
Wathen did, however, say that he anticipates the findings of the report will guide the decisions of lawmakers and “may likely serve as the basis for civil litigation.”
The full final report of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston can be read here and below:
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="30143 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=30143">5 Comments
The Commission needs to provide facts concerning why the SCSO had the authority to take action under our Yellow Flag law. Saying it is one thing, providing a legal basis is another. Capt. Reamer in a recorded conversation downplayed Card’s to the Deputy Sheriff, plus did not relay the complete information concerning Card to the Sheriff. I cannot and will not blame the sheriff as he had reached out to speak with Card’s captain and took the word of the military officer.
Take some time to read the independent report for SCSO. It is highly detailed including transcripts from recorded interviews.
To me, this falls on Captain Reamer and the Army for ignoring Card’s mental condition and not following up to ensure he wasn’t a danger to himself or anyone else.
Another well written article from the Maine Wire. Now, every one of our Maine democrat legislature representatives have a duty and obligation to start passing EVERY WORTHLESS ANTI GUN LAWS THEY CAN in a state that has the lowest gun violence because of this one incident.
Mike Grove wants so badly to have the “Yellow Flag” law deemed unworkable, doesn’t he? David Trahan, Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine was right. “There is nothing wrong with the yellow flag law”.
To say the Sagadahoc Sheriff’s office doesn’t share in some (yes, some) of the culpability in the blame is naive and deceitful. They may have been given misleading information but they had enough to know this man was mentally unstable and given some of the things he was known to have said indicated he was a danger to himself and others. To have given up so easily when coming to do a wellness check tells the real criminal all you have to do is hide in the closet until they’re gone and you’re home free. Whether, after doing a check, the sheriff department concluded there wasn’t enough to proceed to take his weapons will remain a mystery we’ll never know since it never happened. I do agree the military passed the buck and are now in full cya mode. What do you expect from a woke military machine more concerned with political correctness than national security. But to say the locals share none of the blame just so you can put in place a red flag law and take people ability to defend themselves away. Let the civil suits fly.
Does the report or anyone else mention that both locations where shooting took place are “gun free” zones? It would have taken only one “TRAINED”, responsible person who carried a firearm, in the locations to have greatly reduced the horrible results of the shooting!