PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Three Army Reserve officers were disciplined for dereliction of duty following a rampage in which a reservist killed 18 people in Maine, according to an Army report that cited communication failures within the chain of command and between military and civilian hospitals, among other shortcomings.
The report released Tuesday unearthed “a series of failures by unit leadership,” said Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, chief of the Army Reserves, and administrative actions taken against the officers could prevent their further military advancement. The officers weren’t identified.
Survivors and victims’ family members have been critical over missed opportunities to prevent the October 2023 attack. Family members and fellow reservists noticed the gunman exhibiting delusional and paranoid behavior months earlier.
“My heart and soul goes out to all those families, the folks that were witnesses to what happened,” Daniels told reporters. “We’re doing the best that we can in terms of understanding what did transpire, then make changes for the future.”
The partially redacted report noted the gunman, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Card, had previously fallen from a ladder, a potential cause of head injuries uncovered in a post-mortem examination. Daniels said emphatically that there was no tie between his brain injury and his military service, even though the defense department is looking into the potential for damage caused by exposure to repeated blasts.
The 40-year-old Card, amid a spiraling mental health crisis, made alarming statements before the shooting. The investigation indicated Card had a “hit list,” bragged he could kill 100 people with a rifle scope he’d bought, and told a health care provider that he decided to quit his job “before he ended up killing someone,” the report said.
The report, and an Army’s Inspector General report that was also released Tuesday, illustrate that “the system failed,” said Travis Brennan, an attorney representing families of Lewiston victims.
“The reports paint a very clear picture that there were numerous errors along the path leading up to this tragedy,” Brennan said. “There were repeated warning signs that the shooter displayed before the shootings.”
The shooting happened Oct. 25, 2023, at a bowling alley and at a bar and grill in Lewiston. Besides the deaths, 13 survived gunshot wounds and 20 others suffered non-shooting injuries. Card died by suicide.
An independent commission established by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is also investigating the tragedy, and its report expected to be completed later this summer.
Both the Army Reserves and the Army’s Inspector General were asked to provide a full accounting of events. The 115-page Army report was based on interviews with 43 witnesses, 445 exhibits and visits to the shooting sites and the location where Card’s body was found two days later.
The Army report recommends procedural changes and new policies to better manage reservists’ mental health. It was so thorough that the Army’s inspector general, Lt. Gen. Donna Martin, said she concluded her office didn’t need to conduct an independent investigation.
The inspector general’s report, requested by the state’s congressional delegation, had its own recommendations while putting the blame for the tragedy squarely on Card.
“Our review identified several areas for improvement; however our assessment concluded that even a flawless execution by Army personnel in every identified area would likely not have prevented the tragic events,” that report said.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she and independent Sen. Angus King are working to ensure the military fully accesses state crisis intervention programs while protecting the Second Amendment rights of military personnel.
The Army report cited failures in the Reserve unit’s leadership; communication failures and delays between an Army hospital and a civilian psychiatric hospital where Card was treated in New York; and procedural failures that included an inadequate review of Card’s medical records before his case was closed by the Army Reserve Psychological Health Program.
It also recommended a review of the U.S. Army Reserve’s behavioral health force structure and comprehensive behavioral health retraining across the entire U.S. Army Reserves, which comprises nearly 190,000 soldiers.
People who knew Card reported that his behavior began to change in January 2023. Card’s ex-wife and son had reported their concerns about his paranoia and erratic behavior to police in May, 2023 two months before fellow reservists encountered a gaunt Card in New York, where members of his unit were training West Point cadets.
Concerns over his behavior and his attempt to attack a fellow reservist led to him being taken to an Army hospital for evaluation. He was then transferred to a private psychiatric hospital for treatment.
The report said there was enough evidence presented to commanders of Card’s deteriorating health that he shouldn’t have been allowed to attend training at West Point, where he was supposed to work on the machine gun range. And when he was hospitalized, he should’ve retained his on-duty status so the Army could better ensure continuity of care, the report said.
Instead, Card was released after 19 days of treatment in a psychiatric hospital and returned home to Maine where he was no longer on active duty and largely outside the scope of Army rules.
A separate, interim report by Maine’s independent commission concluded that law enforcement had the authority to seize Card’s weapons and shouldn’t have left it up to his family.