The mass shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine, in October 2023 in which Robert Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 others could have been prevented by the local sheriff's office and leaders of Card's Army Reserve Unit, according to an independent commission report issued on Tuesday, CNN reported.
The report found the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office had probable cause to use Maine's yellow flag law to start the procedure for securing Card's weapons a month before the shooting, but did not.
The report also concluded that the leaders of Card's Army Reserve Unit ignored recommendations by his mental health providers to ensure firearms were removed from his home and did not tell the sheriff's office all the information about Card's disturbing behavior, which might have convinced them to change their approach.
"Although he might still have committed a mass shooting even if someone had managed to remove Card's firearms before October 25, 2023, there were several opportunities that, if taken, might have changed the course of events," the report stated.
Last month a separate review by the U.S. Army also stated that a series of failures among Card's military chain of command, civilian law enforcement, and medical providers preceded the shooting, according to CNN.
The independent commission reviewed a months-long series of incidents that demonstrated Card's declining mental health, including that his family had gotten in touch with authorities to express concerns over his well-being and his access to weapons, raising serious questions about why more wasn't done to prevent the shootings.
This is especially so because the yellow flag law was designed exactly for individuals such as Card, who exhibited signs of a mental health crisis and demonstrated himself to be a threat.
But many opportunities were missed to take actions to prevent a possible rampage, even though a month prior to the shooting, law enforcement, and the Army were aware Card had been hospitalized for two weeks for a serious mental illness, that he had access to at least 10 guns, had assaulted a friend and had threatened a military facility in Maine.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.