Maine
Maine Police Defend Search for Army Reserve Gunman Who Killed 18 Last Fall
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine state police on Thursday defended their search last fall for a gunman who had just killed 18 people, saying they didn’t rush to search woods surrounding his abandoned car because they feared a late-night ambush.
The Oct. 25 shooting at a bowling alley and a bar was the deadliest in state history. But it took police two days to find the body of shooter Robert Card, who died by suicide, while tens of thousands of Maine residents were ordered to shelter in their homes.
Police have been criticized for not finding Card sooner, after they quickly identified him as the shooter and found his car, and twice searched a nearby recycling facility where he used to work. They ultimately discovered his body in the back of a tractor-trailer in the business’ overflow parking lot during a third search.
State Police Chief Col. Bill Ross told an independent panel appointed by the governor that the shooting was “extremely challenging” because it involved two separate locations followed by an intense search. He said that in most other mass shootings, the suspect has died or been captured at the scene.
“The weight on our shoulders to find Robert Card was immense and became heavier as each minute passed,” Ross said.
Maj. Lucas Hare told a panel investigating the Lewiston shooting that he decided to delay a search of the woods around the car because they’d been told that Card, a former Army reservist, might have a thermal gun scope or night-vision capabilities.
“We would essentially be asking a patrol officer, with their canine, to go into the woods without the ability to see at night,” to face off against a man with military training, said Hare, who heads the state police operations division.
He told officers to wait for a SWAT team. “I know that was not a popular decision,” he said.
Hare also described some of the confusion and tension during the search as hundreds of officers from dozens of different police agencies descended on the area and emergency calls flooded in.
There were other reasons police said they decided not to search the area with dog teams, citing a three-hour delay, exhaust from police vehicles diminishing the shooter’s scent, and the lack of any heat signature found by an overhead helicopter. Adding to the confusion, Card’s cellphone signal was traced to his home in Bowdoin, leaving police to wonder briefly if he might be there, police said.
Sgt. Greg Roy described how police responded to dozens of leads over the next two days, each of which turned cold. They staked out Card’s family home, searched a farm building and checked on a house where his ex-partner once lived. Police said they responded to hoax calls and chased down tips — 821 in all.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey assembled the commission to determine whether anything could have been done under existing law to prevent the tragedy, and whether changes are needed to prevent future mass shootings.
All told, police evidence technicians said Thursday that Card fired at least 54 shots — based on shell casings discovered at the two locations — using a .308-caliber rifle, which was later found in his abandoned vehicle.
Card spent just 45 seconds at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley, where those killed included two men who rushed him when his gun jammed, and was inside Schemengees Bar & Grille for 72 seconds, according to police.
Card’s body was found at the recycling center in the last of some trailers they searched. A handgun was next to his body, an AR-15-style rifle underneath it, and more than 200 rounds of ammunition were nearby, police said.
The state’s chief medical examiner’s conclusion that Card “likely” died eight to 12 hours before the discovery of his body meant he remained alive during much of the search. State police still don’t know his movements after his vehicle was abandoned.
Police recovered Card’s cellphone, which had a note dated Oct. 22 — three days before the shooting — in which Card wrote that he’d “had enough” and that he was “trained to hurt people,” police told the commission. The full information from his cellphone was provided to the commission but has not yet been made public, a state police spokesperson said.
Both police and the Army were warned that Card was suffering from deteriorating mental health in the months before the shooting.
In May, relatives warned police that the 40-year-old Card was sinking into paranoia, and they expressed concern about his access to guns. In July, Card was hospitalized for two weeks after shoving a fellow reservist and locking himself in a motel room during training in upstate New York. In August, the Army barred him from handling weapons on duty and declared him nondeployable.
Then in September, a fellow reservist provided a stark warning, telling an Army superior that Card was going to “snap and do a mass shooting.”
Army officials later downplayed the warning, but it prompted local police to go to Card’s home in Bowdoin to check on him. Card didn’t come to the door and the deputy said he didn’t have legal authority under Maine’s yellow card law to knock on the door.
State Police Sgt. Thomas Pappas testified Thursday that he came upon the deputy in his car near Card’s home on Sept. 16. He said he agreed with the deputy’s decision to avoid going to the front door because of the potential danger. Pappas said he mentioned options including setting up a perimeter and calling in a tactical team but was told, “I wasn’t called there for my opinion.”
The deputy earlier told the commission that an Army official suggested letting the situation “simmer” rather than forcing a confrontation. The deputy also received assurances from Card’s family that they were removing his access to guns.
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Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire.
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Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
PORTLAND (WGME) — The third annual Celebration of America 300 is set for Thursday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.
This race was a favorite of NASCAR star Kyle Busch, who tragically passed away back in May. He was just 41.
Now, a Maine-born driver who worked on Busch’s team is ready to take the 8 car into victory lane.
For the past five years, Windham native Derek Kneeland was Busch’s eye in the sky, working as a spotter for the cup star. Kneeland says his relationship with Busch was like a brotherhood.
“I was fortunate enough where I got to have a personal relationship with him,” Kneeland said. “He came up, and he ran several races with me in late models and stuff at Oxford and Lee Speedway, and we got to do a lot of cool things together.”
Kneeland says dealing with the sudden loss has been both painful and difficult.
“It’s still hard,” Kneeland said. “I’m having a hard time with it. The weekdays are the hardest. At the track is where I’m most comfortable.”
Kneeland will be at the track and behind the wheel Thursday night, competing in the Celebration of America 300, driving the number 8 car.
“You know, a few days after everything went down, his dad called me, and his dad is a man of very few words, and I said, ‘You know, I’m thinking about running the 8 or 51 as long as I have your guys’ blessing, I would like to do that.’ And he said, ‘Short track world knows him as 51, but the world knows him as 8,’” Kneeland said.
Kneeland says it will be an emotional race, but he’s confident he’ll have a special co-pilot leading the way.
“Hoping he’s going to be on my shoulder and give me the guiding way and but to win it for Kyle, I think that would put the stamp on it,” Kneeland said.
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