On Oct 25, Card killed 18 patrons and wounded 13 at two Lewiston venues in the 10th-deadliest mass shooting in a country where gun violence has become common. After a two-day manhunt, police found Card dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a trailer at a recycling plant where he had worked.
The unit contacted the sheriff’s office “out of an abundance of caution after the unit became concerned for his safety”, US Army spokesperson Ruth Castro said in a statement.
The Army told the company commander in August that Card, a unit firearm instructor, should not handle Army guns and declared him “non-deployable due to concerns over his well-being”, the statement said.
As in many US states, guns are lightly regulated in Maine and no permit is required to buy or carry one. In 2022, however, the state passed a so-called “yellow flag law” that allows police to seek a court order allowing them to temporarily seize guns from a person a medical practitioner has deemed may be in danger of hurting themselves or others.
Officers at Card’s Army Reserve unit had him committed to a New York mental health hospital in July for two weeks after he displayed erratic, threatening behaviour during a battalion training trip to New York’s Camp Smith military installation.
His ability to carry out a massacre has raised questions about the efficacy of the state’s gun regulations and where the limits lie in a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling that found a constitutional right for individuals to carry weapons in public.
In the Sagadahoc County sheriff’s account, his office agreed not to make direct contact with Card after his teenage son and ex-wife reported their concerns on May 3, in which they told a deputy that Card’s anger and paranoia worsened after he got a hearing aid in February.
They said Card had recently picked up 10 to 15 handguns and rifles he had stored at his brother’s house and that they feared his anger if Card learned they had contacted the police, an incident report said.
Instead, a sheriff’s deputy spoke with commanders in Card’s unit, the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, in May and connected them with Card’s family. The battalion officials “assured our office that they would ensure that Card received medical attention”, the sheriff’s statement said.
Source: CNA
