AUGUSTA, Maine — The Army’s inspector general will launch an independent investigation into what led up to the Lewiston mass shooting, Maine’s congressional delegation announced Friday.
Several families of victims of the Oct. 25 mass shooting and a survivor had visited Washington, D.C., last week to meet with Maine’s four-member congressional delegation and ask for an independent probe from inspectors general for the Army and Department of Defense. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, had also requested an independent Army investigation in early November.
“A thorough investigation into what happened, and what could have been done differently, could help prevent future shootings,” Collins, King and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats, said Friday afternoon in a joint statement. “This independent review by the Army inspector general will be an important part of understanding the events that took place before that horrific night. The survivors, families affected, and members of the surrounding communities deserve nothing less.”
Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo told Collins in a letter that Army Lt. Gen. Donna Martin, the inspector general, will formally begin the investigation either once the Army Reserve completes its two internal probes into the shooting or by Feb. 1, 2024, whichever comes first.
The Lewiston gunman, Robert R. Card II, a 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin, killed 18 people and injured 13 at a bar and bowling alley in Maine’s worst mass shooting on record and the country’s deadliest in 2023.
The Army Reserve’s ongoing internal reviews into Card’s background, the October shooting and his unit’s “compliance with relevant regulations” will result in findings and recommendations “that should allow Army leadership to change policies and hold individuals accountable as appropriate,” Camarillo wrote.
Family and fellow reservists had warned law enforcement several times in the months before the shooting that Card, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after the ramage, was acting erratically and able to access firearms while also threatening to shoot up an Army Reserve base in Saco.
Card had spent about two weeks this summer in a New York psychiatric hospital after his reserve unit expressed concerns about his behavior while training in West Point. A Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office deputy also went to Card’s Bowdoin home in September for a wellness check and could hear Card inside but left after Card did not come to the door.
The sheriff’s office said an independent review found it responded reasonably to Card, but the same report found Army Reserve leaders had downplayed warnings from reservists and never verified Card’s peers or family took away any personal weapons he had.
Officials did not use New York’s “red flag” or Maine’s “yellow flag” laws to ask a judge to temporarily take away Card’s weapons. The mass shooting has also renewed debates in Maine and in Congress on laws relating to, for example, military-style weapons like the one Card used in the shooting and mental health issues.
Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey also set up an independent commission to review the Lewiston shooting. The panel is seeking subpoena power from the Legislature and aims to produce a final report within six months.
Berman & Simmons attorney Travis Simmons, who is part of the legal team representing several victims’ families and a survivor, said Friday the group is “appreciative of the delegation’s efforts to ensure that the Army inspector general opens a formal and independent investigation.”
“The victims and families believe this is an important step toward gathering critical information and we are hopeful that it will help to answer important questions and lead to change,” Simmons said.
