Maine's congressional delegation calls for action after Army releases reports on Lewiston shooter

Jul. 23—Newly released reports from the Army and the army's inspector general about the events leading up to the mass shooting in Lewiston prompted calls Tuesday from Maine's congressional delegation to require more cooperation between the military and local law enforcement and to strengthen gun control laws.

Robert Card, an Army reservist, shot and killed 18 people and wounded 13 others on Oct. 25, using a semiautomatic weapon at two locations in Lewiston, a bowling alley and a bar. The mass shooting came after loved ones and friends, including fellow reservists, expressed concerns about Card's increasing paranoia and threats of violence because he thought people were calling him a pedophile behind his back.

The Army Reserve conducted its own internal review and the Army's inspector general conducted an independent review at the request of Maine's congressional delegation. Those reports were released Tuesday.

Maine's delegation issued a joint statement calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to implement recommendations included in the reports, including ways to strengthen follow-up care for soldiers who are experiencing mental health issues.

"While we continue to press for change, we feel a sense of frustration because, truthfully, recommendations are nothing without action," the delegation wrote. "Therefore, we are deeply interested in how your office intends to implement these recommendations, as well as the timeline for implementation. This is life and death and, as we have seen over the past few years, delays can be costly."

The letter is signed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, independent Sen. Angus King, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District.

Collins and King also have been working on legislation in response to the shooting, including bills aimed at the military. One would require the military to utilize "extreme risk protection orders" to confiscate the private firearms of soldiers who make credible threats of violence — something that did not happen with Card.

"Congress also has a role to play," Collins said in a separate written statement. "I am working on legislation, joined by Senator King and informed by the findings in these reports, that would direct the military to fully utilize state crisis intervention programs to help prevent future tragedies like this one, while also protecting the Second Amendment and due process rights of all of our service members."

King also successfully included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act to better protect soldiers from brain injuries associated with repeated exposure to blasts — something that officials believe contributed to Card's paranoia and the voices he was hearing.

That bill is pending action in the Senate. When it reaches the floor, Collins and King plan to introduce the Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Act, which would encourage information-sharing between the military and state and local authorities when a service member makes a credible threat.

The senators' new proposal would require the military to utilize any extreme risk protection orders — also known as red flag laws in some states or a yellow flag law in Maine — to prevent any soldier who has made serious and credible threats from having access to privately owned firearms. The military would have to follow the laws of the soldier's home state or the state in which the soldier made the threat.

The proposal also would require military officials to participate in any court proceedings and share relevant facts with local authorities.

Pingree also released a separate statement calling for additional gun restrictions, including a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, universal background checks, mandatory safe gun storage and ending legal immunity for gun manufacturers.

"While nothing will absolve Robert Card or bring back our neighbors who died that day, we can work to enact change so that we never have to endure tragedy like this ever again," Pingree said. "Now is the time to make real change."

The reports leave unanswered questions about Card's hospitalization in New York. Commanders ordered Card to report to Four Winds Hospital for an evaluation. Card had requested to leave the facility, prompting hospital officials to seek an involuntary commitment. Card withdrew his requestand was released the next day. And nobody appeared to have followed up on his care or condition.

"The Defense Health Agency has a responsibility to determine if Four Winds, where SFC Card had been a patient, failed to provide adequate treatment and, if so, to take appropriate action," Maine's delegation wrote in its letter to Austin.

ATTORNEYS SAY BREAKDOWNS HIGHLIGHTED

A team of national and Maine lawyers representing many of the shooting victims said Tuesday that the report highlighted clear breakdowns in the Army's handling of Card.

The reservist may not have been on active duty at the time of the shooting, attorney Travis Brennan told reporters, but "we're seeing a lot of finger-pointing about who bears responsibility," he said. "This report highlights that there were a lot of people who had responsibility."

Brennan said the team was skeptical that the reservist's hospitalization in July could truly be described as "voluntary" if his commanders ordered him to submit to an evaluation. If the hospitalization was involuntary, Card should have been prohibited from possessing firearms and the Army should have reported him to the FBI's background check system, he said.

One of the national attorneys on the case, Jamal Alsaffar, successfully sued the Air Force and the Department of Defense for $230 million after a mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A judge in that case found that both were negligent when they failed to add the shooter, who had been hospitalized for mental illness and had made threats against his Air Force unit, to the FBI's list of people prohibited from purchasing or possessing guns.

Staff Writer John Terhune contributed to this report.

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