A veteran Maine cop who was one of the first to respond to the state’s deadliest mass shooting blasted state police as “utter clowns” for keeping local officers in the dark during the frantic hunt for the gunman who had just killed 18 people.
In a blistering, since-deleted Facebook post, Sgt. Jon Guay of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office said state police shut out local cops even as huge areas were in lockdown before disturbed gunman Robert Card, 40, was found dead.
“‘Radio silence’ is the best phrase to describe the amount of information the Maine State Police shared with the hundreds of law enforcement officers who responded to assist with this manhunt,” he wrote, according to a screenshot shared by the Bangor Daily News.
“The upper echelons of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit and Command Staff are utter clowns and I wouldn’t hire them to manage the morning rush at Dunkin Donuts much less an investigation of this size.”
Even federal agencies were “left idle” during the 48-hour manhunt, with the only info from state cops coming unofficially through “leaks,” claimed Guay, an officer of 24 years.
“I say this not as sour grapes but because it was expressed to me from every single law enforcement officer I spoke with,” he wrote.
“To not include our local agencies in the information circle is insulting and one we will never forget.”
Card gunned down 18 people and injured 13 others at a bar and bowling alley in Lewiston last Wednesday night, sparking a terrifying lockdown in the region, with schools all closed.
His body was not found until Friday in a trailer at a recycling center in Lisbon Falls. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it was unclear when.
A day after the shooting, 350 law enforcement officers from the state, county, and local levels from across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont were assisting in the search. Federal agents including the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the US Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security also took part in the hunt.
“Nothing is more defeating to a cop than seeing carnage from the dead and injured knowing that you can’t change that, but then being kept out of the loop as to whereabouts of the person responsible,” Guiay wrote.
The veteran officer also noted that his colleagues have developed networks and relationships that could have allowed information to spread within “seconds.”
“No one knows this county better than the local officers who work in it,” Guay wrote. “We have utilized this networking strategy many times before in separate incidents, but when Maine State Police showed up Wednesday night…all that stopped.”
It’s unclear when Guay made the post, though it did not violate office policies, Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson said, adding that he understood Guay’s frustrations.
“You look at that tragedy, and you look at what we have all been through — everybody involved,” Samson said. “But he was expressing his frustration, and I get it.”
Maine State Police have not provided details on how the manhunt was led, who was in charge and how each agency involved was led.
“It’s unfortunate this statement was made but it was a grueling and frustrating 48 hours for everyone,” said Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.