Gunman’s family told deputy before Maine’s deadliest shooting that they hadn’t removed his weapons

By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Police have said repeatedly since Maine’s deadliest shooting that officers thought the gunman’s family had been taking his weapons away. The family of Robert Card challenged that claim Thursday in testimony to an investigative committee. The gunman’s sister-in-law suggested that law enforcement officers should have known it wasn’t true because she and her husband told a deputy a month before the Army reservist killed 18 people that he still had access to weapons, despite his deteriorating mental health. One after another, Card’s relatives offered emotional apologies and vented frustration over their failed attempts to get help from police and the Army reserves.