(PartiallyPolitics.com) – The army’s investigation into the worst mass shooting in the history of the state of Maine has found that prior to Robert Card becoming a shooter, there had been “multiple communication failures” and warning signs. Card killed himself after the shooting in October.
The shooting took place at a bowling alley in Lewiston where Card had opened fire and killed 18 people after the communication with his military chain of command, civilian hospitals, and law enforcement had broken down.
According to the recent report Card, who was being treated at the hospital Four Winds, was at a “very low risk” of harming either himself or someone else, despite him being admitted for aggression, psychosis, and “homicidal ideations,” which included having a “hit list.” Card had also appeared to resist psychoeducation and often put the blame for his behavior on others. Despite this in August 2023 he had been discharged for unknown reasons. The communication failure continued as Four Winds had failed to send the discharge documents to the military medical system following his release, with the documents not being updated for eight days. After the documents were received it took another 10 days for them to be uploaded to his medical record or be closely reviewed.
The report summary notes that the Army Reserve is taking “adverse administrative action” for dereliction of duty against three of the officers who were in Card’s chain of command. As part of the investigation, the investigative team collected more than 3,300 pages of documents and interviewed 43 witnesses.
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