Maine shooting victims sue Army for negligence

SUMMARY

• Survivors and victims’ families sue Army over 2023 Lewiston shooting
• Lawsuit claims Army failed to act despite clear mental health warnings
• More than 100 plaintiffs allege negligence and broken promises
• Army disciplined leaders after probe found failures in oversight

Survivors of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting and relatives of victims are suing the federal government, alleging that the U.S. Army could and should have stopped one of its reservists from carrying out what they call “one of the most preventable mass tragedies in American history.”

Eighteen people were killed in October 2023 when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill. An independent commission appointed by Maine’s governor later concluded that there were numerous opportunities for intervention by both Army officials and civilian law enforcement as Card’s mental health deteriorated. He was found dead by suicide two days after the shootings.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of more than 100 survivors and victims’ family members, accuses the U.S. government of negligence, saying its conduct “directly and proximately caused the mass shooting.”

It alleges that Army officials and others “failed to act reasonably, broke the promises they made to Card’s family and their community, violated mandatory polices, procedures and disregarded directives and orders.”

“By March 2023, the United States and its personnel knew Card was paranoid, delusional, violent, and lacked impulse control. The Army knew he had access to firearms. The Army promised to remove his guns but did not fulfill that promise,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, through its acts and omissions, the Army withheld information and actively misled local law enforcement, thereby preventing others from intervening and separating Card from his weapons.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said in an email on Sept. 3 that it does not comment on pending litigation. Requests for comment were emailed to the Army and Keller Army Community Hospital.

The attorneys began the process of suing the government a little less than a year ago when they filed notices of claim, saying the Army did not act despite being aware of Card’s mental health decline. Card’s mental health spiral led to his hospitalization and left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, the claim said. He even produced a “hit list” of those he wanted to attack, attorneys have said.

The starkest warning came in a September text from a fellow reservist: “I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.”

Army officials conducted their own investigation after the shootings that Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, then the chief of the Army Reserve, said found “a series of failures by unit leadership.” Three Army Reserve leaders were disciplined for dereliction of duty, according to the report.

When the governor’s commission released its final report last August, the Army issued a statement saying it was “committed to reviewing the findings and implementing sound changes to prevent tragedies like this from recurring.”

The Lewiston shootings led to new guns laws in Maine, a state with a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership. The laws prompted legal action on the part of gun rights advocates in the state and remain a contentious topic nearly two years after the shootings.

EXTERNAL LINKS

• U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
• Army Reserve official website
• Mane State Police reports on the Lewiston shootings