Law enforcement officials in Maine received a statewide alert about a “veiled threat” made by US reservist Robert Card – weeks before he opened fire on a local bowling alley and a bar, killing 18 people and wounding 13 others.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said he sent deputies to Card’s home in September after the US Army Reserve informed him that a firearms instructor had issued a “veiled threat” against an Army base – but could not find him.
Merry then sent an “awareness notice” about the Card to all state law enforcement agencies.
Saco Police Chief Jack Clements said he also deployed police to patrol the local Army base where Card, a reservist veteran, had been training – but also came up empty.
“We are adding extra patrols. We did it for about two weeks,” Clements said. “The man never showed up.”
On Wednesday, Card stormed 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 fatally shot patrons there before fleeing.
Sagadahoc County, Maine, Sheriff Joel Merry issued a statewide “awareness alert” in September after Robert Card issued threats at a local military base, weeks before he shot and killed 18 people and wounded 13 others. 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 shooting sparked a massive manhunt by local, county, state and federal authorities, which ended Friday when Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“He slipped through the cracks,” Indiana University law professor Jody Madeira told the Associated Press of Card. “There are warning signs.”
Despite the warning sent by Merry, the FBI said Card was not on their radar before the shooting, and said the agency was “not provided with or possessed any information that would prohibit Card from lawfully purchasing a firearm.”
Card, 40, enlisted in 2002 and is a trained firearms specialist described by fellow reservists as one of the best shooters in his unit — and is an accomplished hunter and outdoorsman.
Robert Card, 40, was a sharpshooter with the US Army Reserve after enlisting in 2002. Authorities said a statewide alert was issued in Maine in September after he issued a “veiled threat” against a local military base, but was never found. Facebook / Robert Card Saco, Maine, Police Chief Jack Clements said he dispatched police to the local military base to look for Robert Card after receiving a statewide awareness alert about Army reservists but never saw him. Card then killed 18 people. Saco Police Department
But signs of trouble emerged in July when officials at Camp Smith near the US military academy at West Point, New York, reported that Card was exhibiting strange behavior and making “threats to other members of his military unit” during 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 attorney, said if Card had done it accidentally, that should have put him on the radar of law enforcement.
“If they take him and he doesn’t want to go and he refuses to be admitted, it’s a slam dunk,” Crisp said. “This should be reported.”
Police outside Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, one of two sites where police say US Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 others with an assault rifle on Wednesday. He was found dead Friday.AP The massive manhunt for Robert Card, a U.S. reservist who authorities say killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Maine on Wednesday, ended Friday when he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. , authorities said.AP
But Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said Saturday that there was no evidence Card had acted unintentionally, even though he had a history of mental health.
Card allowed to go home — still in possession of assault rifle.
Clements, the head of Saco, said his department received many alerts as it was sent about the Card and did their due diligence — but didn’t have any specific warnings about savings other than that.
“Never had contact with this guy, never received a phone call from the reserve saying, ‘Hey, we got somebody who’s causing trouble,'” he said. “We never got anything.”
New York State Police declined to comment to the AP, citing an ongoing investigation.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
