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Fellow reservist warned of mass shooting before gunman's attack in Maine

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Fellow reservist warned of mass shooting before gunman's attack in Maine


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An Army reservist and friend of the gunman behind Maine’s deadliest mass shooting testified Thursday about his friend’s mental decline, describing publicly for the first time the warning he issued a month before the tragedy unfolded.

Rain soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. AP Photo/Matt York, File
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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — An Army reservist and friend of the gunman behind Maine’s deadliest mass shooting testified Thursday about his friend’s mental decline, describing publicly for the first time the warning he issued a month before the tragedy unfolded.

Sean Hodgson texted leaders of his reserve unit six weeks before the shooting that left 18 people dead and 13 wounded, telling them to change the passcode to the gate at their Army Reserve training facility and arm themselves if Robert Card showed up.

Hodgson told a panel investigating the mass shooting on Thursday that he issued the warning to superiors after Card’s delusional and violent behavior spiraled and ended with Card punching him in the face.

“I said ‘Just so you know, I love you. I’ll always be there for you. I won’t give up on you.’ He had that blank stare on his face. It was a dead stare and he drove away,” Hodgson recounted as his friend left him at a gas station.

The attacks happened six months ago, on Oct. 25, when Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, two locations where he held a delusional belief that people were talking about him behind his back. Two days later, the 40-year-old Reservist was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Hodgson told superiors on Sept. 15: “I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.”

But it wasn’t just Hodgson who was worried about Card. Several other reservists witnessed his deterioration during training last summer. That led to a two-week hospitalization in July for Card, months after relatives warned police he had grown paranoid and that they were concerned about his access to guns.

The failure of authorities to remove Card’s weapons in the weeks before the shooting has become the subject of a monthslong investigation in the state, which also has passed new gun safety laws since the tragedy.

In an interim report released last month, an independent commission launched by Gov. Janet Mills concluded that the Sagadahoc County sheriff’s office had probable cause under Maine’s “yellow flag” law to take Card into custody and seize his guns. It also criticized police for not following up with Hodgson about his warning text. A final report is expected this summer.

On Thursday, Hodgson said he warned of a mass shooting because Card threatened multiple members of the unit with violence and that his threats and delusions were escalating. And he had access to guns.

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“The way he was behaving was very threatening. It was escalating. The totality of the circumstances, the events leading to that moment, I was pretty convinced he was going to cause harm,” he said.

Another reservist, Daryl Reed, testified he witnessed Card’s mental and physical decline firsthand, seeing a “normal guy” who successfully traded stocks and loved hunting and the outdoors become increasingly paranoid and believing others were calling him a pedophile.

Card also acquired a thermal scope with a laser range finder that he said cost $10,000, and he demonstrated how it could be used to detect animals, including at night, Reed said.

He added fellow reservists started to become concerned Card could become a danger to colleagues. They were surprised, several testified, when Card was released from a psychiatric hospital after only two weeks.

In an exclusive series of interviews in January, Hodgson told The Associated Press he met Card in the Army Reserve in 2006 and that they became close friends after both divorced their spouses around the same time. They lived together for about a month in 2022, and when Card was hospitalized in New York in July, Hodgson drove him back to Maine.

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Growing increasingly worried about his friend’s mental health, Hodgson warned authorities after Card started “flipping out” after a night of gambling, pounding the steering wheel and nearly crashing multiple times. After ignoring his pleas to pull over, Card punched him in the face, Hodgson said.

“It took me a lot to report somebody I love,” he said. “But when the hair starts standing up on the back of your neck, you have to listen.”

Some officials downplayed Hodgson’s warning, suggesting he might have been drunk because of the late hour of his text. Army Reserve Capt. Jeremy Reamer, the commanding officer of the reserve unit, described him as “not the most credible of our soldiers” and said his message should be taken “with a grain of salt.”

Hodgson said he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol addiction but said he wasn’t drinking that night and was awake because he works nights and was waiting for his boss to call.

“I grieve every day for the many lives that are lost for no reason and those that are still affected today,” he told the AP earlier this month.

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Cara Cookson, director of victim services for the Maine Office of the Attorney General, also testified Thursday and described through tears the daunting task of responding to the enormity of the tragedy with a “patchwork of resources.”

On Thursday evening, the Maine Resiliency Center, which provides support to people affected by the killings, held a six-month commemoration event that drew several hundred people to a park in Lewiston.

The names of the 18 people who died were read aloud at the start of the ceremony, and there were 18 empty chairs, each with a candle and a blue heart, honoring the victims.

The governor also acknowledged the anniversary.

“Our hearts are still healing, and the road to healing is long, but we will continue to walk it together,” Mills said in a statement.

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Maine

Maine Man Charged After a Police Pursuit in a Stolen SUV in Surry

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Maine Man Charged After a Police Pursuit in a Stolen SUV in Surry


A Deer Isle man is facing multiple charges after allegedly leading police on a chase in a stolen vehicle before crashing it.

The Driver Had a Suspended License, Which Added to His List of Charges

Jon McDowell, 27, of Deer Isle is charged with theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, driving to endanger, operating after suspension, and failing to report an accident.

A Deer Isle Resident Reported Their SUV Missing Monday Afternoon

The incident began at approximately 3:17 Monday afternoon when the Hancock Regional Communications Center received a call from a Deer Isle resident reporting their red Chevrolet Equinox had been stolen. Two Hancock County Sheriff’s Office members tried to get the vehicle to pull over on Surry Road, but the driver, who officials say was a white male in a black hooded sweatshirt, refused to stop. Due to the danger to the public posed by the pursuit, officials broke off the chase.

Deputies found the Crashed Car and the Suspect Was Not Far Away

Shortly after losing sight of the vehicle, deputies learned of a crash involving a vehicle matching the description of the missing SUV. As Hancock County officials investigated the crash site, they found the SUV had overturned off the roadway. No one was inside, but a man fitting the suspect’s description emerged from nearby woods. He disappeared before deputies could contact him, but they soon learned he had entered a nearby home. He was transported to the Hancock County Jail without incident.

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We’ll update this story as more details become available.

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'Day Without Child Care' highlights systemic issues in affordable care

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'Day Without Child Care' highlights systemic issues in affordable care


The sun was shining Monday afternoon as kids at YWCA Central Maine’s childcare programs made their way outside, enjoying face-painting and crafts set up for a “Day Without Child Care.” A nationwide effort, the day aims to emphasize the systemic issues in the child care industry, and the need for federal support.

Carrie Jadud is a community organizer with the Maine People’s Alliance.

“Child care should be basic infrastructure —you are able to get to work because we have roads and bridges, so you don’t really think about it, you just go on them, right? And we can do the same thing with child care, that is just a basic economic infrastructure,” she said.

Jadud said child care should be funded like other infrastructure- instead of placing the cost entirely on parents, which leaves families struggling to afford care and providers struggling to afford wages for staff.

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The goal of Monday’s event was to show parents who are struggling to find and afford care that they are not alone, Jadud said. It’s not a personal failing, but a nationwide issue.

She said child care is a public issue, and should be treated as such.

“It’s something affects all of us, even if people don’t have young children themselves at this moment,” Jadud said. “This affects our whole economy when people can’t participate or can’t participate in the ways that they really are called to do.”

She said that while expansions to childcare worker stipends and family child care scholarships are a step in the right direction, the industry needs ongoing federal support.

Amanda Hatch, chief program and impact officer at the YWCA, said their child care programs are all full, with waitlists. And they often hear from families struggling to find an affordable option, especially as more providers have closed since the pandemic.

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But Hatch said even though the YWCA is a larger, more established child care program, funding is always a concern. And supporting infrastructure for the industry would make that a lot easier.

“Just so that we weren’t always searching for the next dollar, or worried about how that was gonna impact the families who are already paying a lot for care and really would struggle to pay more for care,” Hatch said.





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$3 Dewey's in Portland, Maine Needs Help Identifying Authentic Sign

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$3 Dewey's in Portland, Maine Needs Help Identifying Authentic Sign


My absolute favorite bar in Portland, Maine needs your help! This is such a cool story coming out of Massachusetts making its’ way into Maine. The power of social media can truly be daunting at times, but it can also be really amazing when used correctly. I would say that this is one of those times where it’s being used correctly and I’m really excited for them if this works:

Alright guys, let’s do what Mainer’s do and make this happen! This might be a job for tourists as well though, considering $3 Dewey’s is a staple in the city as a “must-visit”. I’m wondering if you or anybody you know has visited Portland around the early 1980’s when they first opened their doors and has taken a photo either inside or outside for their memories. Such a simple photo would mean everything to them.

As a former Dewey’s bartender for a few years, this bar holds a very special place in my own heart. Beyond the wild amount of history it holds, I’ve also met some of my very best friends working at this bar and I’d love to see my former co-workers be able to find some closure.

Like their Facebook quotes, you can either bring your copy of the photo to the bar OR you can submit a digital copy of the photo to our “History of $3 Deweys” webpage. On another note, you can also message me on instagram @krissytradio if you have any other type of lead that I can pass onto the Dewey’s gals & pals!

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