A veteran Maine cop who was among the first to respond to the state’s deadliest mass shooting blasted state police as “clowns” for keeping local officers in the dark during the hunt for a gunman who had just killed 18 people.
In a since-deleted blistering Facebook post, Sgt. Jon Guay of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office said state police closed in on local police despite a large area being cordoned off before disturbed gunman Robert Card, 40, was found dead.
“‘Radio silence’ is the best phrase to describe the amount of information shared by the Maine State Police with the hundreds of law enforcement officers who responded to assist in this manhunt,” he wrote, according to a screenshot shared by the Bangor Daily News.
“The top brass of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit and Command Staff are clowns and I would not hire them to handle a morning rush at Dunkin Donuts let alone an investigation of this magnitude.”
A veteran Maine cop slammed state officials for their response to the mass shooting. Getty Images
Even federal agencies were “left idle” during the 48-hour manhunt, with the only information from state police coming unofficially through “leaks,” claimed Guay, a 24-year-old officer.
“I say this not as sour grapes but because it was expressed to me from every law enforcement officer I spoke to,” he wrote.
“To not include our local agency in the information circle is an insult and one we will never forget.”
Guay deleted the post but was not told by his department.Facebook/Jon Guay
Card shot dead 18 people and wounded 13 others at a bar and bowling alley in Lewiston last Wednesday night, sparking a terrifying lockdown in the region, with all schools closed.
Her body was not found until Friday in a trailer at a recycling center in Lisbon Falls. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but it is unclear when.
A day after the shooting, 350 state, county and local law enforcement officers from across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont assisted in the search. Federal agents including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the US Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security also took part in the manhunt.
“Nothing defeats the police more than seeing a carnage of dead and injured people knowing you can’t change it, but then being kept out of the loop about the whereabouts of the people responsible,” Guay wrote.
The veteran officer also noted that his colleagues had developed networks and relationships that could allow information to spread in “seconds”.
It is unclear when Guay made the Facebook post. Facebook/Jon Guay
“No one knows this district better than the local officials who work in it,” Guay wrote. “We’ve used this network strategy many times before in separate incidents, but when the Maine State Police showed up Wednesday night … everything stopped.”
It’s unclear when Guay made the post, though it did not violate office policy, Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson said, adding that he understood Guay’s frustration.
Robert Card is accused of shooting dead 18 people and wounding 13 others. Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office Robert Card, 40, was the subject of a massive multi-agency search. Lewiston Maine Police Department/AFP via Getty Images
“You look at the tragedy, and you look at what we’ve all been through — everyone involved,” Samson said. “But he expressed his frustration, and I understand.”
Maine State Police did not provide details on how the manhunt was led, who was responsible, and how each agency involved was led.
“It’s unfortunate that this statement was made but it was an exhausting and frustrating 48 hours for everyone,” said Shannon Moss, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
