Response to concerns about the Maine mass shooter’s mental health was reasonable, report says, but changes are recommended

By Jay Croft and Sabrina Souza, CNN

(CNN) — Sheriff’s officials in Maine “reasonably” responded to concerns about Lewiston mass shooter Robert Card’s mental health in the months before he killed 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant, but improvements to the department’s strategy are recommended, a third-party review has found.

“After an objective analysis, the reviewer concluded that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office’s responses to concerns about Mr. Card’s mental health in May and September 2023 was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances,” the 97-page report says.

Card, 40, also left 13 people injured when he opened fire at the businesses in Lewiston on October 25. He was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound days later, ending a tense manhunt that left people in surrounding communities fearful to leave their homes.

CNN was first to report that local police knew of concerns surrounding Card’s behavior and were sent to his home in the weeks before the shootings.

The report on the response to those concerns was written by Maine attorney Michael A. Cunniff and released by the sheriff’s office. It recommends the sheriff’s office “enhance” its ability to respond to mental-health related incidents with a new mental health liaison program and potentially a “multijurisdictional and multidisciplinary mental health response team to overcome resource limitations and improve the efficiency and effectiveness.”

In a statement, Sagadahoc Sheriff Joel Merry said the department’s “focus remains on supporting those who were hurt and the families and friends of those who were killed.”

“At the same time, it’s critical for our agency to look objectively at our actions and make changes to help reduce the risk that something like this will happen again,” Merry said.

Concerns raised by Card’s family in May

Deputy Chad Carleton and Sgt. Aaron Skolfield were mainly responsible for the office’s response to concerns about Card over two days in May and three days in September, the report says.

Skolfield and Carleton “diligently explored the nature and extent of the concerns” about Card’s mental health and “it was reasonable for them to conclude” that Card “did not then pose an imminent risk of self-harm or harm to others, that there were insufficient grounds to take Mr. Card into protective custody or to take other actions” like confiscating his weapons, the report states.

It was “objectively reasonable” to defer monitoring Card’s wellbeing to third parties such as his family members, the report continues.

Card’s son and ex-wife told Carleton in May that Card appeared to be hearing voices, exhibited paranoid behavior, was having angry outbursts, and had guns, but he had not done anything threatening with the weapons, according to the report.

“Carleton reasonably concluded that he did not have the discretion to take Mr. Card into protective custody due to insufficient grounds for a conclusion that Mr. Card posed an imminent risk of self-harm or harm to others,” the report says. Carleton also did not confiscate Card’s firearms.

Card’s family, including his brother, “adamantly opposed any direct contact” between Card and Carleton for fear of making things worse, the report says. Carleton asked Card’s brother to contact the sheriff’s office if he seemed to pose a danger to himself or others.

Carleton also informed officials with Card’s Army Reserve unit of the family’s concerns and a captain with the unit told Carleton they would “start to figure out options to get (Card) help,” the report said.

Carleton “acted diligently to obtain assurances from third parties (i.e., family members and Army Reserve personnel) that Mr. Card would be guided toward a psychiatric evaluation and treatment,” according to the report.

Under Maine law, the dangerous weapon confiscation provisions were not available to Carleton, according to the report. Although Card appeared to be mentally ill, Carleton did not have probable cause to believe that Card was likely to hurt himself or others, as defined by the protective custody statute.

“Maine law provides for a process to remove dangerous weapons from a mentally ill person who is in protective custody and has undergone a psychiatric evaluation, endorsed by a judge, indicating that there is a realistic potential for imminent self-harm or imminent harm to others, as well as other safety considerations,” according to the report.

More concerns arise

Card had begun hearing insulting voices in the spring that had grown worse, according to the report.

He was getting beer on July 15 in West Point with some soldiers when he accused the three of them of calling him a pedophile and ended up shoving a soldier and saying, “he would take care of it,” according to a letter shared by the sheriff’s office.

Card was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he spent two weeks before being released, the letter says.

The US Army in July said Card “should not have a weapon, handle ammunition, and not participate in live fire activity,” after he was seen “behaving erratically” and sent for an evaluation at an Army hospital, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said.

Then there was another incident.

Card and a soldier were driving home from a casino when he again started talking about people calling him a pedophile, a statement to Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office said. During this encounter the solider became concerned he would “snap and commit a mass shooting,” CNN reported initially in October.

The Army then asked local authorities to check on Card, a reservist.

The sheriff’s office tried to contact Card on September 16, less than six weeks before the massacre. Skolfield called for backup, tried without success to talk to Card, and then received disturbing details from the Army and Card’s family.

During the three days in September when deputies responded to concerns, Skolfield failed to get a voluntary psychiatric evalution of Card. But he “acted diligently when encouraging Ryan Card, Mr. Card’s brother, to do so and when offering the assistance of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office in that regard,” the report says.

Skolfield did not have sufficient grounds to take Card into protective custody, “which also foreclosed his discretion to initiate the process for confiscation of Mr. Card’s firearms,” according to the report.

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