Maine
Commission probing response to Maine mass shooting will hear from sheriff's office
AUGUSTA, Maine – A commission investigating a mass shooting that killed 18 people in Maine last year is scheduled to hear Thursday from a police agency that had contact with the shooter before he committed the killings.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and state Attorney General Aaron Frey assembled the commission to review the events that led up to the shootings at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston on Oct. 25. Commissioners, who are holding their second meeting Thursday, are also tasked with reviewing the police response.
The meeting will be public and will allow commissioners to speak to members of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department, a spokesperson for the commission said.
Lawyers for some of the victims’ families have pointed to missed opportunities to prevent Army reservist Robert Card, 40, from committing the shootings and was found dead afterward from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police videos obtained by The Associated Press and other news agencies showed that police declined to confront Card in the weeks beforehand, fearing it would worsen an already volatile situation. Card’s declining mental health was known to police, Army officials and family members, according to numerous interviews.
Mills and Frey said Wednesday that they have introduced legislation to grant subpoena authority to the commission as it investigates, a power that commissioners have said they will need.
“This legislation, which comes at the request of the Independent Commission, will ensure that the commission has the tools it needs to fully and effectively discharge its critical mission of determining the facts of the tragedy in Lewiston,” Mills and Frey said in a statement.
Thursday’s commission meeting is the first of four in which there will be an open forum for comments. Meetings with victims, Maine State Police and the Army are also scheduled.
The commission has said it “will conduct its work in public to the greatest extent possible and issue a formal public report detailing its findings upon the conclusion of its investigation.” Members have said they hope to produce a full report by early summer.
Police were alerted last September by Army Reserves officials about Card, who had been hospitalized in July after exhibiting erratic behavior during training. Officials warned police that he had access to weapons and had threatened to “shoot up” an Army Reserve center in Saco.
An independent report by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office after the shooting found that local law enforcement knew Card’s mental health was declining and that he was hearing voices and experiencing psychotic episodes. The report cleared the agency’s response to concerns about Card, but several legal experts have said it revealed missed opportunities to intervene.
The commission meeting Thursday is chaired by Daniel Wathen, former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Other members include Debra Baeder, the former chief forensic psychologist for the state, and Paula Silsby, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Maine.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Posted inCommunity, News, Outdoors, Schools & Education
The group from Skowhegan Area High School’s outdoor leadership program built tables for the overlook in Dallas Plantation.
The loons are back and nesting on lakes statewide and we need your help to monitor their population! Every year since 1983, hundreds of volunteers have gone out to lakes and ponds across Maine on the third Saturday in July. These volunteers submit data about the number of loons they observe from 7 to 7:30 am, which gives us an excellent “snapshot” of the loon population. The Annual Loon Count allows us to monitor how the number of adults and chicks has changed over the past 40 years and make sure we know how to best protect their population!
This year, the Loon Count will take place on Saturday, July 18. We encourage you to join a group of over 1,800 volunteers and help us count the number of loons in Maine! The Loon Count occurs on lakes and ponds all across the state and volunteers can survey by boat or shore (you don’t have to have a boat to take part!).
If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org and tell us if there’s a specific lake or area you’d like to survey. We are always aiming to expand our coverage across the state and particularly encourage volunteers in northern Maine to get involved!
The deadline to sign up for the Annual Loon Count is July 10, so please reach out as soon as possible.
If you can’t make it on July 18, or if one day just isn’t enough for you, you can monitor loons throughout the summer.Through our Loon Pair Monitoring project, you can submit observations of breeding loon pairs over several months to help us better understand nest and chick success across Maine. Find out more here >
If talking to people and doing outreach appeals to you, and you’d like to help spread the word about loon conservation, check out our Look Out for Loons outreach program.
THOMASTON, Maine (WGME) — The Maine DEA says they arrested two people on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking out of Vinalhaven.
Mariah Grover, 22, and Jefferson Jazzir Arias, 27, were reportedly arrested following an investigation by the Maine DEA’s Mid-Coast Task Force and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office into suspected drug trafficking from the island of Vinalhaven to Rockland via ferry.
Jefferson Jazzir Arias (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Both Grover, a resident of Texas and Maine, and Arias, a resident of Texas and California, were pulled over by authorities in Thomaston in a car that had been identified in that investigation, according to the Maine DEA.
The Maine DEA says a search of the car found 66 grams of suspected cocaine, a .45 caliber handgun, $9,500 in suspected drug money, and other “items indicative of drug trafficking.”
Mariah Grover (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Authorities say Arias had two extraditable warrants related to robbery in California and theft in Texas. Arias was reportedly charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, and Grover was charged with unlawful trafficking in Schedule W drugs.
Grover was reportedly taken to Knox County Jail on a $50,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on May 29th.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
Arias was also taken to Knox County Jail on a $75,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on the same day, according to authorities.
-
Indianapolis, IN4 minutes agoTop seeded West Chester cruises to 12-3 win over University of Indianapolis in the Division II championship
-
Pittsburg, PA11 minutes agoPittsburg man accused of hotel kidnapping, assault enters plea deal
-
Augusta, GA14 minutes agoSenate candidate Derek Dooley visits Lincolnton, Augusta
-
Washington, D.C19 minutes agoMan in critical condition after water rescue in Southwest DC
-
Cleveland, OH26 minutes agoKoby Altman Sounds Like Evan Mobley’s Future With Cavaliers Could Be in Question
-
Austin, TX29 minutes agoBarton Springs Bridge named one of Preservation Texas’ most endangered places for 2026
-
Alabama34 minutes agoA path to employment for Alabama individuals with a criminal background
-
Arizona44 minutes agoArizona GOP attorney general debate turns personal with insults, name-calling
