The commission charged with investigating the mass shooting that took place in October in Lewiston, Maine, released its final report on Tuesday, laying out in detail how local law enforcement and Army Reserve leaders failed repeatedly to take steps to prevent the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history.
The seven-member independent commission, appointed by Gov. Janet Mills, had previously found fault with local sheriff’s officers who allowed the gunman, Robert R. Card II, a 40-year-old Army Reserve grenade instructor, to keep his firearms despite evidence that he was dangerous. In the new report, the group emphasized the failings of Mr. Card’s Army Reserve commanders, finding that they ignored mental health clinicians who urged them to closely monitor whether he was continuing treatment and to ensure that his weapons were taken away after a brief hospitalization last summer.
The final report sharply rebuked one of the gunman’s Army Reserve supervisors, Capt. Jeremy Reamer, who, it said, “neglected to follow any of the recommendations” of the psychiatric clinician who had examined Mr. Card last summer at an Army hospital in New York after his statements and behavior raised alarms.
“In fact,” the report said of Captain Reamer, “he ignored them.”
On the night of Oct. 25, 2023, Mr. Card used an assault rifle to kill 18 people and wound 13 more at two popular spots in Lewiston, a bowling alley and a bar where cornhole players gathered to unwind. After a two-day manhunt for the missing gunman, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The commission held 16 public hearings over the past 10 months. It focused on pressing law enforcement and Army officials to explain why and how their interventions fell short as Mr. Card’s paranoia and erratic behavior escalated.
Its final report said that the shootings challenged state and local law enforcement agencies in unprecedented ways, creating “utter chaos” at times in the hours after the shooting. Commissioners called for the Maine State Police to undertake a full review of its response to the shooting, “to allow for professional recommendations on improvements.”