AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill on Tuesday giving subpoena power to the commission investigating the Lewiston mass shooting shortly after lawmakers sent the bill to her desk unanimously.
The measure, which took effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, sailed through both the House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday morning following lengthier discussions and minor tweaks in committee meetings.
At its first meeting in November, the seven-member commission requested the subpoena power that allows it to require witnesses to testify and to obtain additional records. That power is key, as the commission has encountered unnamed witnesses who either refused to testify or were instructed by superiors to not testify, according to executive director Anne Jordan.
The panel’s two remaining scheduled meetings are currently set to feature Maine State Police officials on Thursday and U.S. Army personnel on March 7. A commission spokesperson confirmed Monday the Army has given permission for personnel to testify next month, though it remains unclear who will appear.
Investigators will likely focus on Army Reserve leaders and peers of gunman Robert Card II, given a third-party report found superiors had downplayed warnings from Card’s fellow reservists in the weeks before the Oct. 25 rampage that Card was acting erratic and threatening to “shoot up” places.
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Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey, both Democrats, formed the seven-member commission and tasked it with investigating the lead-up and response to the mass shooting at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar that left 18 people dead and 13 injured. A 48-hour manhunt for the shooter ended when police found Card, a 40-year Army reservist from Bowdoin, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The commission heard in January from Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office personnel who responded to concerns from Card’s family and peers about his mental health, access to firearms and threats to commit a shooting in the months and weeks before the October rampage. It has since heard as well from family members of victims and local police in Lewiston and Lisbon.
