10-30-2023, 08:01 PM
(10-30-2023, 07:53 PM)pally Wrote: yes they were told
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/maine-shooting-robert-card-investigation/index.html
The US Army asked local police to check on the reservist [/url]who killed 18 people after a soldier became concerned he would “snap and commit a mass shooting,” according to information shared with CNN.
Officers from the Sagadahoc County and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Offices responded and tried to contact Robert Card on September 16, less than six weeks before last Wednesday’s massacres in a bowling alley and a bar, documents say, according to a law enforcement source.
The information obtained by CNN describes how the Sagadahoc County sergeant called for backup, tried without success to talk to the reservist and then received disturbing details from the Army and the shooter’s family.
The responding sergeant from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office was told “when [he] answers the door at his trailer, in the past he usually does so with a handgun in hand out of view from the person outside,” according to the source familiar with the welfare check report.
The responding officer learned later in a letter from the Army that a soldier “is concerned that [the reservist] is going to snap and commit a mass shooting,” according to the report filed in connection with the wellness check.
The 40-year-old went on two shooting rampages in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, killing 18 people at Just-in-Time Recreation and at Schemengees Bar & Grille.
The initial panic was followed by 48 hours of fear and lockdown before he was found on Friday night, [url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/us/maine-shootings-suspect-search-friday]dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, about 10 miles away.
CNN’s reporting raises new questions about the lack of follow-through to make sure the man was not a danger despite serious warning signs that were known by authorities and are now being publicized for the first time.
The welfare report detailed to CNN repeatedly cited the Maine National Guard as the source of the concerns and the troubling information about the shooter’s actions. The Maine National Guard did not respond to requests for comment before this story’s initial publication, but on Monday said they were not involved.
“[The shooter] was not a member of, nor had he ever served in the Maine National Guard,” an emailed statement read. “All inquiries about his service record should be directed to the US Army Reserve.”
Separately, the US Army answered a CNN request for information, again after this story first appeared, to say the health and wellness check was requested by the shooter’s unit “out of an abundance of caution after the unit became concerned for his safety.” The email statement from Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro continued: “The Army takes all allegations seriously. Due to an ongoing Army investigation, we cannot go into any further details.”
Maine has a “yellow flag” law that can be used to assess an individual with access to weapons. The first step is for law enforcement to take someone believed to be dangerous into custody and then have them evaluated by a medical professional. After a diagnosis, a judge can approve an order to temporarily remove firearms, according to the law.
A File 6 missing person’s report appears to have been generated by the Sagadahoc sergeant who tried to check on the man, the source told CNN, but it is unclear if there was any action in regard to the shooter’s access to weapons. The source said the case appeared to have been closed on October 1, 24 days before the massacres.
CNN started raising questions about what information law enforcement in the state had about threats and the mental health condition of the shooter on Thursday. But when CNN asked State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck about it, he replied: “I won’t answer.”
He continued: “Based on what I’ve seen, we’re going to continue to work through that.”
A spokesperson for the state police on Sunday said the organization was the lead agency for the manhunt and homicide investigations but no other aspect, directing CNN to ask questions about what was known before to Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry.
“The Department of Public Safety (DPS) nor the Maine State Police requested a teletype on Robert Card prior to October 26. It should also be noted that no bulletins or assistance was requested from MSP’s Maine information and analysis center. DPS has no regulatory authority over law-enforcement agencies in Maine,” she said, declining to give any elaboration.
CNN was unable to reach Merry on Sunday. A woman who answered the door at his home said he was “done,” indicating he did not want to speak.
CNN also tried to request comments on this story from the shooter’s family, who did not respond.
Nearly three months before Wednesday’s attacks, the shooter tried to buy a firearm silencer from Coastal Defense Firearms in Auburn, Maine, but the owner of the store, Rick LaChapelle, refused to let him complete the purchase after he disclosed on a form that he had mental health issues, The New York Times reported.
Very tragic, if the laws already on the books had actually been followed all of these people would almost certainly still be alive. Parkland and the former Air Force shooter being two other examples of the top of my head.
Speaking of Parkland, I was alerted by a minor's school that they were concerned about a kid being a potential mass shooter. The minor in question was on probation, with a search condition, for two separate incidents of bringing a loaded hand gun to school. This was less than ten days after Parkland. The house was searched and we didn't find anything. A few days later I got berated by my direct superior's boss for "violating that family's privacy" without a "good reason". I reiterated our reason for conducting the search and the response was, and I am not kidding, "But you didn't find anything in the search." I guess if we had found a gun then we wouldn't have been violating that family's privacy? You'd be dismayed to find out how much this kind of crap happens.
