Maine mass shooter told mental health hospital he had a ‘hit list,’ Army report says

An Army investigation found “multiple miscommunications” regarding warning signs in the months before reservist Robert Card committed the worst mass shooting in Maine history before killing himself in October.

Card shot and killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a nearby restaurant in Lewiston after a series of communication breakdowns between his military chain of command, civilian authorities and civilian hospitals treating him for mental health issues.according to the investigationreleased publicly on Tuesday.

In one case, Four Winds, a hospital treating Card, found that he was at a “very low risk” of harming himself or others, despite being admitted due to reports of psychosis, aggression and “homicidal ideations.” , like having a “target list”. He also “appeared resistant to psychoeducation and blamed others for his behavior.” He was discharged in August 2023 for unknown reasons.

Another miscommunication occurred when Four Winds did not submit discharge documents to the military medical system for eight days after Card’s release. Once received, the documents were not uploaded to Card’s medical record for another 10 days, nor closely reviewed, “which would have revealed troubling information that could have been passed up the chain of command.”

The Army Reserve took “adverse administrative action” against three officers in Card’s chain of command for “dereliction of duty.”a summary of the reportStates.

In total, the investigative team consisting of a senior military intelligence officer, a military judge, a nurse, and an Army Criminal Investigation Division agent interviewed 43 witnesses and collected more than 3,300 pages of documentation.

The report presents a troubling series of events surrounding Card, who served as a combat weapons trainer at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY, for about two weeks a year from 2014 to 2022. He was primarily a instructor in hand grenade range and was never deployed or saw combat.

Card, who worked as a truck driver in his civilian job, had no recorded history of mental health problems and members of his unit considered him “a steady, average performer, ‘solid and reliable.’” He was also described. as “kind, friendly, calm and generous,” according to the investigation.

But in January 2023, Card’s family, friends, and co-workers noticed that his mental health was starting to decline when he “started hearing voices of people, often strangers, but sometimes friends, family, and co-workers, who he believed they were ridiculing him behind his behavior.” back, on social media and directly in his presence,” according to the investigation.

Family and close friends tried to reassure Card that he was not being ridiculed, but the “auditory hallucinations” persisted through March and April 2023. In May 2023, his family reported at least four mental health incidents to a resource officer. schoolchildren. , and that he was believed to have “10 to 15 rifles and/or handguns” in his home.

These reports were forwarded to local authorities, the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, who reported them to their chain of command on the Reservation. Card was still ordered to participate in mandatory annual training in July, as authorities believed “his mental health issues did not impair his military work.”

However, 24 hours after reporting to annual training, Card showed signs of “deteriorating mental status” and his command ordered a behavioral health evaluation at nearby Keller Army Community Hospital. An initial triage determined that Card needed a higher level of care and he was transported to Four Winds Civil Hospital on July 16.

The investigation later concluded that his leadership should not have ordered him to annual training and that he failed to conduct a line-of-duty investigation that would have adequately documented his admission and condition at the hospital, according to the report.

Card remained at Four Winds for 19 days, was diagnosed with a “brief psychotic disorder” and prescribed psychiatric medications and follow-up treatments.

While in the hospital, Card’s chain of command attempted to coordinate the removal of weapons from his home, “but did not have the authority to legally compel the removal of any firearms or weapons.”

Card was released from Four Winds on Aug. 3 to a friend in his unit. The investigation was unable to determine why he was released as hospital staff refused to speak to the investigating officer. That official recommended in the report that the Defense Health Agency should consider removing the hospital as an authorized treatment facility.

In addition to his discharge documents not being sent to the military medical system until August 21, more than two weeks after he was released, neither civilian nor military hospitals informed Card’s chain of command about his discharge or subsequent care.

The documents included details about his mental state, including that he told doctors he “decided to quit his job before he ended up killing someone” and that he “slept 3 to 4 hours during the day.”

After his release on August 3, Card, who was not on duty status, “communicated increasingly violent, yet vague, threats and rhetoric to friends and family,” often describing how many people he could harm with his weapons or in which locations he could “shoot up.”

On September 14, the voices Card heard impacted his mental health so much that he violently assaulted his best friend who was in his reserve unit.

Realizing how bad things were, the friend, whose name is redacted in the report, contacted the unit’s chain of command and said he was worried that Card would “snap out and do a mass shooting,” according to a text message to leadership.

Within 24 hours of this message, Card’s leadership informed local authorities of the threats, as they were not on the reservation at the time. Law enforcement then attempted to perform two welfare checks on Card but were unable to contact him.

And on October 17 and 19, the Army Reserve Medical Management Center attempted to contact Card to follow up with him about his treatment and well-being, but were unable to reach him.

Card ended up killing 18 people and injuring 13 others on October 25. He was found dead two days later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story