By Fiona Espinoza-Castro
Staff Writer
A year ago in Lewiston, Maine, the state’s deadliest mass shooting occurred when Robert Card, a former U.S. Army reservist, killed 18 people and wounded 13 others. The massacre, which ranks as the eighth deadliest gun attack since 2006, according to the Washington Post, left 100 survivors traumatized by the tragedy. In the aftermath, families of the victims and survivors are pursuing legal action, seeking to hold the U.S. Army accountable for its negligence in preventing the mass shooting.
The first report of this tragedy came around 6:56 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2023. According to the Washington Post, law enforcement officials received calls stating that there had been a shooting in various locations.
The shooting occurred at two local businesses in the southwestern section city; the first location was a bowling alley and the second was an arcade-style restaurant and bar four miles away, with a 14-minute time gap between the two occurrences.
For 48 hours, citizens remained shocked as schools were closed and entire towns went under lockdown while the suspect was still missing. The Portland Press Herald reported that officials failed to search Card’s workplace, Maine Recycling Corps, where he was later pronounced dead after taking his own life.
This attack shattered the feelings of safety for many native residents of Maine given the state’s high gun ownership rate and low violent crime rates, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Although the police considered the mission a success, several factors stood out for the victims’ families.
Card’s former roommate and fellow U.S. Army reservist, Sean Hodgson, sent a message to their Army supervisor nearly six weeks before the fatal event in hopes that he could save his friend. The message read, “I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting,” according to the Associated Press.
Nearly five months before, several of Card’s relatives warned police about Card and expressed their concern about his growing paranoia. According to the Associated Press, in 2022, Card revealed to Hodgson that people around him were accusing him of being a pedophile due to another Robert Card being on the sex offender registry.
In July 2023, Card was placed into a psychiatric unit for two weeks after locking himself in a motel room and physically attacking a reservist. A month later, the Army prevented him from handling weapons while on duty because they categorized him as non-deployable, according to the Associated Press.
In September, Hodgson told authorities to change the passcode to the gate of their Army Reserve training facility and to arm themselves in case Card ever showed up.
Days before Card was hospitalized, he purchased an AR-10 rifle, the same weapon that he used in the shooting, CNN reported.
CNN reported that lawyers for the remaining survivors and relatives of victims of the Lewiston massacre have begun the process of suing the U.S. Army for its alleged failure to prevent Card from attacking innocent individuals. The lawsuit also includes the Department of Defense and the Keller Army Community Hospital, according to ABC News.
Several people claim that although the Army was aware of Card’s declining health, it failed to act. Trial attorney Travis Brennan told News Center Maine, “The clear gap here is that the minute he left the hospital and went out into the community, where was the protection for everyone in the community? Where was that?”
This led to Card’s homicidal ideations, including his infamous “hit list,” as reported by CNN. Four law firms have already given an advanced notification to the federal government. This notice is known as Standard Form 95. If the U.S. fails to investigate the claims, with approximately six months to respond, the victims’ families and survivors will proceed with lawsuits.
One legal notice covered by ABC News mentioned that the “Department of Defense, the Army, the military hospital and its employees ‘broke its promises, failed to act reasonably, violated its own policies and procedures, and disregarded directives and orders, including those of Card's treating medical providers.’”
According to the Maine Morning Star, the Keller Army Community Hospital in West Point, New York, released Card without a continuous treatment plan.
The notice also claims that the hospital and Army failed to alert local Maine law enforcement about Card’s history or inform his doctors about the restrictions placed on him, as reported by the Maine Morning Star.
It also alleges that military officials failed to protect and defend the victims from a non-deployable soldier who showed signs of mental illness and a calculated plan for mass violence, as reported by ABC News. A month before the tragedy, Card made a threat to commit a mass shooting, but the Army reportedly downplayed the sign.
The report also blamed Card’s Army Reserve commander, Jeremy Reamer, for not sharing enough information about Card’s declining mental health with law enforcement. Card’s commander also allegedly failed to follow recommendations from an Army nurse by not ensuring that Card received continued support services or that his weapons were confiscated, the Bangor Daily News reported.
To review the shooting, Maine Governor Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey appointed a seven-member commission, which met with Army officials, survivors, police officers and the perpetrator’s family between November and July.
The commission’s preliminary report, released in March, found that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office had a chance to initiate Maine’s yellow flag law and seize Card’s firearms a month before the shooting, according to Bangor Daily News. Yet when the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to run a welfare check on Card, they were unsuccessful after he did not answer the door.
Mills and the legislature did amend the yellow flaw law in April, six months after the massacre. Bangor Daily News reported that Mills collaborated with gun-rights advocates to make it a felony to prohibit suspicious individuals from purchasing guns. Mills desired to invest in mental health services and violence prevention initiatives.
Through amending the law, Mills hopes to ensure expanded background checks for gun sales. According to Bangor Daily News, the changes make it easier for officials to take individuals deemed dangerous into custody.
Cynthia Young, a victim’s wife whose son and husband were killed at the bowling alley, told the Associated Press, “As terrible as the shooting was, it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken.”
Young also urged for “accountability for those actions not taken that led up to the 18 souls being lost and also the loss of feeling safe and secure from the survivors of this tragic event.”
