AUGUSTA, Maine — Higher-ups with Maine State Police defended Thursday their unprecedented response to the Lewiston mass shooting while acknowledging communication issues that came as hundreds of police streamed into the city to help.
Col. William Ross, members of his command staff and some rank-and-file policemen testified to the commission Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey tasked with investigating the Oct. 25 rampage at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar that left 18 people dead and 13 injured in the deadliest shooting in state history.
The hearing gave the Maine State Police an opportunity to defend the overall response to the shooting, which featured a quick response to the shooting scenes targeted by 40-year-old Army reservist Robert Card of Bowdoin. Card escaped the scene, forcing a frantic manhunt that shut down the region for two days until the shooter was found dead in Lisbon.
That search has been heavily scrutinized, and it was the main focus Thursday. Police acknowledged that communication broke down at times as 350 police streamed in from at least 51 agencies. A commander said he made an “unpopular decision” among police to set up a perimeter around Card’s vehicle when it was found shortly after the shooting rather than approach it immediately because he feared an ambush.
“We know some of the things that we can do better on, and we’ll make those improvements,” Ross said.
Ross and other state police leaders noted that the Lewiston shooting stood out among other mass shootings across the country because it happened at two locations and Card got away. Most mass shooters are killed by police or others or kill themselves at the scene.
Maj. Lucas Hare, who leads the Maine State Police operations division, said when Card’s vehicle was found at a Lisbon boat launch three hours after the shooting around after 10 p.m., he ordered responding officers over the radio to not approach the vehicle and maintain a perimeter until additional units arrived.
But he explained he was thinking of a past manhunt in Pennsylvania for a shooter who set up an ambush of state troopers. Hare also said he made the call not to use K-9 units given the potential for an ambush. Police pushed back, he noted.
“That was not a popular decision,” Hare said.
As state police set up their Incident Command System used for large events and Card was not immediately found, Hare said his job was predominantly “to slow things down” after a lightning-quick response to the scenes and “become much more deliberate.”
The 48-hour manhunt for Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin, involved more than 350 local, state and federal law enforcement officers — with 200 FBI personnel alone — and featured shelter-in-place orders for area residents while putting much of Maine on edge.
Thursday’s meeting was the fifth time the panel has publicly met. Previous meetings featured members of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office who responded to concerns about Card in the months before the shooting, family members of victims and local police from Lewiston and Lisbon who were part of the initial response and search for Card.
Lisbon and Lewiston police officers at last week’s meeting largely praised Maine State Police for leading the investigation and manhunt. But An Androscoggin County sheriff’s deputy who responded to the shooting had called state police command staff “utter clowns” in a Facebook post and said they gave local partners “radio silence” during the search for Card. Ross shot back in a November radio interview by disputing that and saying the media exploited the post.
Lisbon police and then a Maine State Police-led tactical team searched the Lisbon recycling center property where Card previously worked but initially overlooked the trailer in an overflow flow where Card was eventually found of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Oct. 27.
Hare reiterated the confusion on Oct. 25 as police also responded to reports of shootings at a Walmart distribution center and a restaurant in Lewiston. Both reports were quickly deemed false. Additionally, Hare said Auburn police shared information on a potential suspect who had an “uncanny likeness” to Card. Police surrounded his house, but he was not involved.
Ross called the shooting response a “massive undertaking” and said Maine State Police had conducted several reviews so far, with the criminal investigation closed and a broader review to still happen. Pennsylvania State Police and other outside agencies have conducted tactical team and wellness-focused reviews for Maine State Police, Ross added.
Other new information Thursday came from Sgt. Tom Pappas, who happened to be driving on West Road in Bowdoin on Sept. 16 when he noticed Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Aaron Skolfield’s vehicle. Skolfield had conducted a welfare check at Card’s nearby home.
Pappas said he disagreed with a third-party report for the sheriff’s office that said the trooper believed the “response to the mental health concerns was sufficient,” instead saying he only had a short talk with Skolfield about Card and advised the deputy that knocking on his door was a bad idea.
U.S. Army personnel have been invited to appear before the commission on March 7, the only other meeting currently scheduled. Mills signed a bill Tuesday granting the panel subpoena power, and the panel wants to produce a final report by late May.
Commission chair Daniel Wathen, a retired Maine Supreme Judicial Court chief justice, said Thursday the panel will also put out an interim report by April dealing with issues “relevant to policy matters” before the Legislature and Mills. Mills has proposed expanding background checks to advertised gun sales and mental health-focused initiatives.
Card’s Army Reserve superiors have faced scrutiny after a third-party report said they downplayed warnings about his erratic behavior and stated threats to “shoot up” places. The Army’s inspector general is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting, after the Army Reserve completed two internal reviews.
