Local & State
Everyone feared the worst about Robert Card. No one stopped him.
There are still many unknowns, but a harrowing question weighs heavy: Could one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history also have been the most preventable?
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As Maine leads the country in workplace injury rates, labor advocates are calling on the government to strengthen safety protections and enforcement.
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This week's planned reopening of Lewiston bowling alley at 24 Mollison Way runs counter to national trend.
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The governor let the 72-hour pause pass without her signature, saying she was ‘deeply conflicted.’ She vetoed a second bill that would have banned rapid-fire devices.
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Over 120 handbell ringers from 16 choirs across Maine and wider New England met Saturday for Maine Spring Ring at Auburn Middle School.
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The newly signed law, which the governor proposed in the wake of the Lewiston mass shooting, expands requirements for background checks to include private, advertised sales and also updates the existing yellow flag law.
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Roughly 300 people assembled to celebrate the 18 people killed in the Oct. 25, 2023, shooting, the many who were hurt and the families of the victims.Â
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Daryl Reed, the soldier whom Robert Card threatened during the unit's annual training, and Sean Hodgson, who was Card's closest friend, spoke for the first time in front of the commission investigating the mass shooting.
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Maine Resiliency Center staff encourage people to come Thursday in support of the victims and survivors.
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Aaron Skolfield defended his actions in an interview Monday and said Robert Card's Army superiors misled him about the threat he posed.
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But the full Legislature never took up a proposal for a red flag law that would give families, in addition to law enforcement, the ability to restrict a person's access to weapons without a mental health evaluation.
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The bill now requires second votes in both the House and Senate before it heads to Gov. Mills' desk.
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Amid biting criticism for the department's failings before the tragedy on Oct. 25, incumbent Sheriff Joel Merry and Sgt. Aaron Skolfield forge ahead.
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House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross requires Reps. Michael Lemelin and Shelley Rudnicki to read a formal apology on the House floor before restoring their right to speak during floor debates.
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And the state's former chief medical examiner said his office knew who the victims were on the night of the shooting, but Maine State Police told his office not to share the information.
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The U.S. Army reservist who killed 18 people in Lewiston in October had been exposed to 'thousands of low-level blasts' during years of grenade training, and the damage has been linked to mental health and behavioral changes he exhibited before the shooting.
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Experts who reviewed a copy of the report shared with the Press Herald say estimating Robert Card's time of death with any confidence is difficult or impossible.
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Supporters say the bill would provide an important path forward for families seeking to restrict a loved one's access to firearms without stigmatizing mental illness, while opponents raise concerns about due process and Second Amendment rights.
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Members of several groups, including the U.S. Army Reserve, Maine State Police and the medical examiner's office, will testify at public hearings on April 4 and April 11 at the University of Maine in Augusta.
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The Judiciary Committee also will soon take up a last-minute bill that would put in place 'an improved crisis intervention order' for restricting access to firearms when people are deemed to be a threat.
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The interim findings of the state-appointed panel focused largely on 'abdication of law enforcement's duty,' but preventing future killings will require more than laying blame.
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The Legislature's Judiciary Committee tabled three other gun-related bills during a work session Thursday and will take them up again at a later date.
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Money raised by Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund will help survivors and the families of the 18 people slain in Lewiston.
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Democratic lawmakers meet in private with a federal firearms regulator to discuss existing rules in preparation for a key committee meeting Thursday. Republicans criticize the move, pass up an offer to do the same and say the discussions should have been public.
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They point to the state commission's finding that faulted the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office for not using existing laws to seize guns from the shooter before he killed 18 people in Lewiston.
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Called a hero for turning off the lights at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant, Mike Roderick of China details what happened Oct. 25.
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Sgt. Aaron Skolfield, who has faced scrutiny for failing to properly heed warnings about Robert Card's declining mental health, filed paperwork to run for Sagadahoc County sheriff in February.
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New committee will soon begin planning a memorial and related events.
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The interim report, which also faults the Army, calls a Sagadahoc County deputy's failure to take Robert Card into custody in mid-September 'an abdication of law enforcement's responsibility.'
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The Legislature's Judiciary Committee holds a work session on a series of bills that include a proposal from Gov. Janet Mills to expand background checks and update the state's yellow flag law.
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It will take all of us working together and listening compassionately to chart a path forward.
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But Maine defenders of traditional gun rights also turned out in force at last week's hearings, and it's unclear if the support to enact changes will be sustained.
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An Army spokesperson on Thursday called the lab findings regarding Robert Card 'concerning' and said they 'underscore the Army’s need to do all it can to protect Soldiers against blast-induced injury.'
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The money will support the needs of those directly and indirectly impacted by the tragedy in Lewiston, Gov. Janet Mills said.
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Robert Card was 'exposed to thousands of low-level blasts' during Army grenade training in New York state, and the injury to his brain likely played a role in his behavioral changes before the mass shooting, researchers say.
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Dozens of people testified for and against a pair of bills that include expanding background check requirements to advertised private firearms sales and a 72-hour waiting period on purchases.
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Robert Card was a longtime reservist for a Saco-based unit. His colleagues became increasingly concerned about his behavior last year but took few steps to follow up on his mental health treatment.
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Robert Card's family agreed to release the findings of the brain analysis Wednesday.
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The newsroom will undertake an accountability investigation into Maine’s deadliest mass shooting.
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Public hearings begin on gun safety bills that would ban bump stocks, institute a 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases and expand background checks to advertised private sales.
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Nobody testified against House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross' proposal to invest at least $17.5 million in mental health crisis services.
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Commission heard from victims and others impacted by the shootings.
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Two legislative committees are scheduled to hear public testimony on a slate of bills proposed in the wake of the mass shooting in Lewiston.
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A 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, a ban on bump stocks and a network of mental health crisis centers are among the measures Democratic leaders in the Legislature have proposed in response to the mass shooting in Lewiston.
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One bill to be unveiled Wednesday calls for a 72-hour waiting period on firearm purchases, a measure that has previously been defeated by the Democratic controlled Legislature.
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Personnel records released Monday show that Robert Card continued to get stellar evaluations from his superiors – even after his family began noticing paranoid behavior.
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Director Steve Dettelbach's comments came after he met this past week with family members of some of the 18 people killed in October.
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While actions speak louder than words, it's often words that help inspire action.
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A partisan fight over the hearing process for Gov. Janet Mills' proposal to expand background checks on firearm sales and increase access to crisis mental health care suggests a bipartisan compromise may be elusive even after the mass shooting.
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N.Y. police video shows fellow reservists’ accounts of Lewiston gunman’s deteriorating mental healthRobert Card's erratic behavior had already estranged him from his family and had raised concerns among his colleagues in the Army Reserve before he spent 2 weeks in a psychiatric hospital last summer, new footage released by the New York State Police shows.
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The letters referencing the semi-automatic weapons commonly referred to as assault rifles were spearheaded by Rep. Lori Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach.
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Gun reform activists say the governor's proposals don't go far enough to address gun violence.
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With most of Maine's fire departments and emergency medical services responding to potentially violent situations, many of Maine's non-law enforcement first responders are investing in ballistic personal protective equipment. Many of those who aren't investing in the equipment would like to.
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Ben Dyer, a Poland Spring employee, was one of 13 people injured during the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston.
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The Maine Council of Churches and Episcopal Diocese of Maine are encouraging all faith traditions to join in Gun Safety Awareness Sabbath.
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In a 15-minute video from July released by New York State Police, Robert Card repeatedly tells officers that people are calling him a pedophile everywhere he goes and warns that he's 'capable' of doing something about it.
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Maine State Police also testified that Card bought the rifle used in the shooting just days before he was in New York to train with his U.S. Army Reserve unit and ended up hospitalized at a psychiatric facility.
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The $71 million supplemental proposal also includes previously announced funding for housing and homelessness, child welfare and safety, and to address the opioid crisis.
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The authorization comes after the commission's executive director says subpoena power is actively needed, although it's unclear if the commission will use the new law immediately.
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The exhibit honoring Peyton Brewer-Ross at the Art:Works on Main gallery will run though February and will potentially spotlight other victims of the Lewiston mass shooting.
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Before the tragic events of Oct. 25, the process to take guns away from those who pose a threat had been used infrequently. Some say reforms could make the law stronger.
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The fourth hearing by the commission investigating the shooting focuses largely on the struggle to quickly organize a unified search for the killer in the face of dozens of false tips and red herrings.
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The emergency measure cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate Thursday morning, and now faces procedural votes before going to the governor for signature.
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It will be the fourth time the body has convened since its formation last fall, and the third day of public testimony.
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The first-of-its kind training will be supplemented by increased security in the Burton Cross Office building next to the State House and a new mobile phone app to send alerts about threats in the Capitol complex.
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Maine's deadly force review panel reiterated its longstanding call for improved mental health resources and recommended strengthening the state's protective custody and yellow flag laws.