Maine's congressional delegation calls for Army investigation into Lewiston shooting

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Maine’s congressional delegation calls for Army investigation into Lewiston shooting

BY PATRICK WHITTLE
Updated 8:39 AM EST, December 9, 2023

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Maine’s congressional delegation is calling for the Army to investigate the events that lead up to the October mass shooting - the deadliest in the state’s history - by one of its reservists.

Robert Card killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston on Oct. 25, authorities said, and his body was found - with a self-inflicted gunshot wound - two days later. Reports soon began to emerge that the 40-year-old Card had spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital and at roughly the same time was amassing weapons.

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The delegation’s call for an independent investigation came a day after members met with a survivor and family members of victims of the shootings. The families went to Capitol Hill to call for the Department of the Army Inspector General to find answers about how Card was able to own guns and commit the shootings.

Card’s access to military weapons had been restricted after he left the psychiatric hospital. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, has said either New York’s red flag law or Maine’s yellow flag law could have been implemented to remove weapons from Card after the Army took action to restrict him.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/maine-shooting-investigation-lewiston-victims-83d237801c7996fe2a8c752a23eccf10

[WhiteTara]

1. I see that Susan is concerned again.

now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

[ShazzieB]

2. Susan and the rest of the Maine delegation do have a point.

When you read the whole story of this guy's background (mental health issues, etc.) it sounds like mistakes were definitely made, and it seems reasonable to look into it to see what went wrong and where.

Of course, that won't solve the real problem of there being way too many guns in this country and too few controls on who has access to even the most lethal ones (military style assault rifles), but the investigation being called for is really not a bad idea.