The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office said an independent review of its actions involving Robert R. Card II before the Lewiston mass shooting found that the department responded reasonably under the circumstances at the time.
The report was initiated by the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff said the family was concerned about his wellbeing and access to guns. A deputy spoke with Card’s Army Reserve training group in New York, he said, and connected them with Card’s family, who assured the sheriff’s office that Card would receive medical attention.
In July, police say Card was involved in Army Reserve training in New York when his regiment reported him behaving erratically.
The state police were called, and he was later taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation, where he reportedly stayed for two weeks.
The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that in September, someone from Card’s unit at the Army Reserve base in Saco asked for a wellness check on Card at his home in Bowdoin.
When deputies couldn’t find Card, the sheriff said, they sent out a statewide alert to other agencies with a warning that detailed his recent behavior and that Card could be armed and dangerous.
The next day, officers made contact with Card’s family, who said they would work to secure his firearms.
Sheriff Joel Merry said he believes his agency acted appropriately in the situation.
“The mass shooting on Oct. 25 in Lewiston has changed the community and our state forever. Our focus remains on supporting those who were hurt and the families and friends of those who were killed,” Merry said. “At the same time, it’s critical for our agency to look objectively at our actions and make changes to help reduce the risk that something like this will happen again.”
The report also examined Maine’s “yellow-flag” law, voluntary psychiatric evaluations, emergency involuntary commitment, protective custody and firearm confiscation.
“The review has found that responding deputies followed the law and their training with the information available at the time,” Merry said. “We also understand that there are additional reviews underway of the mass shootings and our office will cooperate fully.”
The report was conducted by investigator and attorney Michael A. Cunniff, who offered three suggestions for improvements to the sheriff’s office:
— Continue and enhance mental health-related training programs (including training in the mechanics of applying statutory options for handling mentally ill persons who pose a risk of self-harm or harm to others).
— Taking full advantage of its partnership with the newly available mental health liaison resource (including the development of protocols for a multi- disciplinary approach to incidents with mental health components, especially procedures for follow-up by the mental health liaison with persons of concern regarding their mental health status and treatment initiatives).
— In consideration of the fact that responses to mental health-related situations are resource intensive, exploring the creation of a multijurisdictional and multidisciplinary mental health response team that would be responsible for, at a minimum, oversight of responses to mental health situations and, preferably, to assist with (or to fulfill) the procedures necessary to assess the person of concern and, as appropriate, to take the person of concern into protective custody (or to follow-up if the person is in protective custody), involuntary commitment, emergency involuntary commitment, and to effectuate the protection from substantial threats provisions that would permit the confiscation of dangerous weapons from persons who pose a risk of self-harm or harm to others.
The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office said it is committed to implementing the changes.
