Officials in Maine urge Army to probe massacre

LEWISTON, Maine — This state’s congressional delegation is calling for the Army to investigate the events that led up to the October mass shooting — the deadliest in Maine’s history — by one of its reservists.

Robert Card killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston on Oct. 25, authorities said, and his body was found — with a self-inflicted gunshot wound — two days later. Reports soon began to emerge that Card, 40, had spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital and at roughly the same time was amassing weapons.

Members of the Maine delegation called for the Department of the Army Inspector General to investigate after a meeting in Washington with families affected by the killings. The families went to Capitol Hill to call for the inspector general to find answers about how Card was able to own guns and commit the shootings.

The delegation said Friday that Army officials have informed them that there will be an administrative investigation into the events that preceded Card’s death. The members said in a statement that they have called for a deeper, independent investigation that would be separate from and concurrent with the administrative inquiry.

“This tragedy warrants a much broader, independent inquiry,” the delegation members said in the statement. “We must work to fully understand what happened — and what could have been done differently that might have prevented the Lewiston shooting — on the local, state, and federal levels. We must also give the American people confidence that the investigation is comprehensive and unbiased.”

Army officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Card’s access to military weapons had been restricted after he left the psychiatric hospital. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, the senior member of the delegation, has said that Maine’s yellow flag law or New York’s red flag law could have been implemented to remove weapons from Card after the Army took action to restrict him.

Collins, independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden called for the investigation Friday.

The Lewiston families said in a statement late Friday that they appreciated the swift action from the lawmakers after meeting with them.

An independent Maine commission also is investigating the shooting, and it has requested subpoena power to question the Army.