Last month, Maine police were notified of “vague threats” by a certain US Army Reservist named Robert Card made against his base and fellow soldiers.
This month, Card carried out the most devastating mass shooting in the state’s history, killing 18 and wounding 13 more before a manhunt found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Two local law enforcement chiefs told The Associated Press that a statewide awareness alert was sent in mid-September to be on alert for the future Lewiston shooter after the threats. But after more base patrols and even a visit to Card’s home, they moved on after finding no sign of him.
Jack Clements is the police chief in Saco, home to the US Army Reserve base where Card trained. He said that he “never showed up.”
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry’s jurisdiction includes Card’s home in Bowdoin; he stated that the Army Reserve tipped his department in September to the reservist’s threats, and then he sent the awareness alert to every law enforcement agency in Maine after his deputy came back empty-handed following a separate welfare check home visit.
The military has not commented whether the threats relayed to Merry were the same ones that Card made during a training exercise near West Point in July, which was followed by him being committed to a mental health facility for erratic actions, his threats of violence, and “hearing voices.”
The FBI said Saturday that Card had not been on its radar in spite of these earlier threats, telling the AP it “did not have nor did it receive any tips or information concerning Robert Card.” The bureau added that its background check system “was not provided with or in possession of any information that would have prohibited Card from a lawful firearm purchase.”
Chief Clements defended his department’s response to the alert about Card. He called it a “generic thing that came out saying, hey, you know, we’ve had some report that this guy’s made some veiled threats.” Clements also noted that his department gets many such alerts and they gave it adequate attention given that they had no contact.
But with all of the missed flags in this saga, the attention clearly wasn’t enough.
