AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills will form a commission to investigate the circumstances that led to the mass shooting that killed 18 people and injured another 13 at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston last Wednesday.
It was the first recognition from a top Maine official of the many warning signs brought to light in the last few days about the shooter, 40-year-old Army reservist Robert R. Card II of Bowdoin, as well as the two-day police search for him that ended when Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Lisbon on Friday.
The new panel would be independent and able to probe law enforcement contacts with Card and the manhunt that followed the shootings, although the Democratic governor’s office did not immediately answer questions about whether it would have subpoena power or include state officials directly responsible for the Card investigation.
One lawmaker from the area criticized Mills’ proposal by saying she should work with the Legislature to put together a body based on the one that probed the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, while an expert said the commission must be independent from the governor and free of influence and allowed to subpoena witnesses and get testimony under penalty of perjury.
“If it doesn’t have those four things, it is not going to be as effective as we need it to be,” Josh Filler, a Falmouth-based consultant who helps law enforcement agencies prevent and respond to mass shootings and other attacks, said.
Police had been alerted twice since May that Card was growing more paranoid and was heavily armed. In September, the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office was made aware that Card was mentally ill and threatened to shoot up an Army Reserve base in Saco after being held in a New York hospital while on an assignment there over the summer.
Despite dire warnings from a fellow soldier who told superiors that Card may “snap and do a mass shooting,” a deputy never made contact with Card after going to his Bowdoin home, relying on family members to secure Card’s weapons. Experts have said the shooter should have triggered Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which lets police take guns from dangerous people.
Reports of Card’s delusions have been consistent. On the night of the shooting, someone who knew Card said the shooter believed the bowling alley and bar that he targeted were among businesses “broadcasting” that he was a pedophile. In May, police were told of similar delusions. Ahead of his July hospitalization, he also accused fellow soldiers of calling him a pedophile.
Concerns have extended to the manhunt for Card, which was the largest in state history with upward of 350 law enforcement officials from local, state and federal departments assisting. An Androscoggin County sheriff’s deputy criticized the Maine State Police for wasting time and resources during the search, although some local departments have defended the agency.
Mills, a Democrat, said in a news release that the contacts with police raised “crucial questions about actions taken and what more could have been done to prevent this tragedy from occurring.” She said her commission would include independent experts with legal, investigative, and mental health backgrounds.
“I hope to formally announce this commission and its membership next week so that it may conduct itself with a due sense of urgency, and above all else, follow the facts wherever they may lead,” Mills said in a Wednesday statement on her proposal.
The idea got some pushback from Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, a lawyer who said on social media that Mills should ask lawmakers to form a commission. The Legislature is not scheduled to convene until January, although the governor could call a special session.
“A commission whose membership is unilaterally appointed by the chief executive is not ‘independent,’” Lee wrote.