Law enforcement officials in Maine received a state alert about “veiled threats” made by U.S. Army reservist Robert Card, weeks before he opened fire at a local bowling alley and bar, killing 18 people and injuring another 13.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said he sent deputies to Card’s home in September after the U.S. Army Reserve tipped him off that the firearms instructor had made “veiled threats” against a U.S. base. army, but could not find him.
Merry then sent an “awareness alert” about Card to all law enforcement agencies in the state.
Saco Police Chief Jack Clements said he even deployed police to patrol the local Army base where Card, a veteran reservist, had trained, but also found nothing.
“We added additional patrols. We did that for about two weeks,” Clements said. “The guy never showed up.”
On Wednesday, Card burst into Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, and opened fire with a high-powered rifle, then drove to Shemengees Bar & Grille and shot patrons there before fleeing.
Sagadahoc County, Maine, Sheriff Joel Merry issued a statewide “awareness alert” in September after Robert Card made threats at a local military base, weeks before shooting and killing 18 people and wounding others. 13. Joel Merry / Facebook Federal, state, county and local authorities launched a massive manhunt for Army reservist Robert Card after he killed 18 people and wounded 13 others during two mass shootings in Maine on Wednesday. He was found dead on Friday. AP
The mass shootings sparked a massive manhunt by local, county, state and federal authorities, which ended Friday when Card was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“It flew under the radar,” Jody Madeira, a law professor at Indiana University, told the Associated Press of Card. “There were warning signs.”
Despite the alerts sent by Merry, the FBI said Card was not on its radar before the shootings, and said the agency “did not receive or be in possession of any information that would have prohibited Card from legally purchasing firearms.” fire”.
Card, 40, enlisted in 2002 and was a firearms expert who was described by his fellow reservists as one of the best marksmen in his unit, and was a skilled hunter and outdoorsman.
Robert Card, 40, was a sharpshooter in the U.S. Army Reserve after enlisting in 2002. Authorities said a state alert was issued in Maine in September after he made “veiled threats” against a local military base, but was not found. Robert Card Saco, Maine Police Chief Jack Clements said he sent police to a local military base to look for Robert Card after receiving a statewide awareness alert about the Army reservist, but never saw him. Card subsequently killed 18 people. Saco Police Department
But signs of trouble emerged in July when officials at Camp Smith, near the U.S. military academy at West Point, New York, reported that Card was exhibiting strange behavior and had made “threats to other members of his military unit” during an exercise. of training.
The base notified state police and Card was committed to a mental health facility, where he spent two weeks.
Jonathan Crisp, a former Army lawyer, said that if Card had been committed inadvertently, that should have put him on authorities’ radar.
“If they took him away and he didn’t want to go and refused to be admitted, it’s a piece of cake,” Crisp said. “This should have been reported.”
Police outside Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, one of two sites where police say U.S. Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 others with an assault rifle on Wednesday. He was found dead on Friday.AP A massive search for Robert Card, a U.S. Army reservist who authorities say killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Maine on Wednesday, ended Friday when he was found dead from a stab wound. self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said. he said.ap
But Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said Saturday that there was no evidence that Card had been involuntarily committed, although he did have a history of mental health.
Card was allowed to return home, still in possession of the assault rifle.
Clements, Saco’s boss, said his department receives many alerts like the one sent about Card and did its due diligence, but he didn’t have any specific warnings about the reservist beyond that.
“I was never in contact with this guy, I never got any phone calls from the reservation saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got someone that was causing a problem,’” he said. “We never got anything.”
The New York State Police declined to comment to the AP, citing an ongoing investigation.
With postal cables
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn