Weeks- months ahead of the Maine shooting, family, friends and colleagues were warning of Robert Card's violent threats, instability and his hearing voices, but let's blame the rifle.

The subject is now open for discussion, because this is a prime example of the failure of our mental health system and law enforcement authorities to act upon clear and unambiguous signs of a mentally unstable person indicating that he would soon commit violent acts.

Texts, letters from Maine massacre suspect's Army colleagues warned he threatened 'shooting up places'

A member of Robert Card's Army Reserve unit sent a series of texts on Sept. 15, saying, "I believe he's (Card) going to snap and do a mass shooting," with a warning to be armed if anyone sees him.

That was a little over five weeks before Oct. 25, when Card killed 18 and injured 13 more in the deadliest mass shooting in Maine's history.

The text was among the trove of documents released by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office this week, including letters from Card's friends and colleagues expressing concern for his rapidly deteriorating mental state.

"Change the passcode to the unit gate and be armed if sfc Card does arrive. Please," the sender – identified as "Ssg Hodgson" – said in the Sept. 15 text exchange to Cpl. Kelvin Mote, who is an Ellsworth police officer. "I believe he’s messed up in the head. (sic) And threaten the unit … and other places."

"Ssg Hodgson's" texts continued on to say, "I love (Card) to death but i (sic) do not know how to help him and he refuses to get help or to continue help … I'm afraid he's going to f--- up his life from hearing things he thinks he heard."

Cpl. Mote included the texts in an email to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office, which described Card's erratic and confrontational behavior, which appeared to stem from paranoia.

"Card has been hearing voices calling him a pedophile, saying he has a small d--- and other insults," Cpl. Mote wrote in an email obtained by Fox News Digital (and included in full below).

Card started hearing voices in the spring, Cpl. Mote wrote, and it "has only gotten worse," which led to physical confrontations with colleagues and even "a longtime friend."

On July 15, while at West Point, he accused other soldiers of calling him a pedophile "and said he would take care of it," Cpl. Mote wrote. "Card got in his (longtime friend) face, shoved him and told him to stop calling him a pedophile."

The tense exchange temporarily deescalated, but Card continued to repeat "he would take care of it" during the car ride home, according to Cpl. Mote.

"Once they got back to the motel, Card locked himself in his room and would not answer the door when they tried to make contact," he wrote.

The next morning, Cpl. Mote and other soldiers tried to convince Card to see a psychologist, which sparked another tense exchange, according to the email.

Card was ultimately taken to Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, New York, for treatment and evaluation, but he "never spoke, just stared through me without blinking," wrote Cpl. Mote.

Cpl. Mote noted Card spent 14 days in the hospital, left and didn't seek out any other treatment.

He detailed other incidents where Card again mentioned he was being called a pedophile and that he was going to get "them."

That phrase "get them" was in quotes throughout Cpl. Mote's email: "Since the commander and I are the one who had him committed, we are the ‘them.’"

"He also said I was the reason he can't buy guns anymore because of the commitment," Cpl. Mote wrote.

There were well-being checks on Card at his home at 941 Meadow Road in Bowdoin, Maine, where Fox News Digital detailed an all-night law enforcement raid and execution of search warrants on Thursday night.

"I would rather err on the side of caution with regards to Card since he is a capable marksman, and if he set his mind to carry out threats made to Hodgson, he would be able to do it," Cpl. Mote wrote.

Card killed 18 people and injured 13 more on Oct. 25 during his deadly rampage at the Schemengees Bar and Grille and Just In Time bowling alley, previously known as Sparetime Recreation, in Lewiston.

He seemingly vanished into the chaos, which sent Lewiston and the surrounding areas into a COVID-like shutdown during a two-day-long manhunt until Card was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a trailer of a recycling facility.

Again, he believed people in both locations were calling him a pedophile, according to witnesses, including Card's brother and son.

Card knew people at both locations, which are well-known hangout spots in the area.

After two days, Card was found dead in a trailer in the overflow lot of a recycling facility in Lisbon, which is along a walking trail where law enforcement found his abandoned car.

The lot where Card was found is separated from the main facility by a street and is northwest and out of the way from the main building, so police didn't search the trailers after they cleared the facility twice before.

Card was wearing the same sweatshirt as the night of the shooting, according to law enforcement, which found him with two other guns.

I can't remember any of these spree shooters that didn't telegraph warnings of violent behavior.

The Sandy Hook kid years ago was completely unable to function yet his mother bought him the AR thinking it would give them an activity and have something in common.

Just go down the list and they all gave clear signs well before going off the deep end.

Card also had these folks from the military who knew he had the weapons and the knowledge to do what he did. No big mystery.

The real question is, why do others in their life fail to act when their intent is so clear and the risk to others so high?

Asking that existing laws be enforced, and that mental health be a serious part of the equation, is entirely reasonable and valid.

Mental health is routinely dismissed by the left as some sort of excuse or dodge.. yet.. how many lives could we save, considering most "gun deaths" remain suicides?

They blame the rifle, and don't actually try to solve the problem, because they want the populace disarmed. For somebody who grew up in the part of the country that forged the birth of this nation... I'm beside myself daily.

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Card was ultimately taken to Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital in Katonah, New York, for treatment and evaluation, but he "never spoke, just stared through me without blinking," wrote Cpl. Mote.

Cpl. Mote noted Card spent 14 days in the hospital, left and didn't seek out any other treatment.

The mental health laws around the country need to be re-examined and updated. During the 60-70's there was a concerted effort to whittle away all the legal mechanisms regarding evaluating, detaining and separating the mentally ill from society. Police and District Attorneys are limited in whom they can detain and have committed, not to mention the lengthy process that is needed to get longer periods of separation. This guy was separated for 2-weeks and was then released on his own, not sure what goes on in 14-days but, clearly nothing changed.

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Originally posted by arcwelder:
Mental health is routinely dismissed by the left as some sort of excuse or dodge..

The left celebrates and embraces mental problems. It’s obvious that they wouldn’t point out their own faults.

The mental health system in this country is a joke.

The medical field has unconscionably prioritized HIPPA over saving lives. A buddy is an avid shooter with a bunch of tax stamps and his wife is a physician who oversees 6 medical offices. We were discussing NICS background checks and that a disqualifier for firearms is supposed to be persons adjudicated to be mentally defective or who have been committed to a mental institution, but they're rarely reported. The attorneys at her employer make the doctors take annual HIPPA training, but the training doesn't include anything about what to do if a patient is legally unable to own a firearm and talks about owning guns. My friend's wife had no idea who to even call if a patient was hearing voices about committing a mass shooting.

State legislatures have tied the hands of the courts. In most states, family can't get a family member involuntarily committed. Even if they do, most will be out in 72 hours, quit taking their meds, and the bad behavior continues.

State legislatures and counties administrators have closed most of the mental health institutions.

They've kicked the can down to law enforcement and only provide mental health care as long as they're in jail/prison for a crime. My buddy is a Harris County (i.e. county that contains Houston, TX) deputy and told me that 2 floors of the Harris County jail are entirely for the mentally ill, and it's a revolving door as after discharge most quit taking the meds. Harris County closed down a mental health facility and which made crime even worse.

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Originally posted by Voshterkoff:

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Originally posted by arcwelder:
Mental health is routinely dismissed by the left as some sort of excuse or dodge..

The left celebrates and embraces mental problems. It’s obvious that they wouldn’t point out their own faults.

So many political examples.

What were the failures of the police in this situation? I’m asking because I’ve only caught bits and pieces of this story.

I’m usually quick to point out failures of the police in situations but I’m cautious here. I’ve heard stories and personally been involved in situations where a person was in a severe mental health crisis, was undoubtedly a danger to themself or others, and was deemed by a mental health “professional” to not be a danger. I’ve also seen “professionals” flat out refuse to do their job in these situations. Im curious what the mental health laws and processes are there. Here in KY an officer can be told a list of things like in this story outlining how someone is a danger but, if an officer does not see those things first hand, he/she may not be able to take action.

I could go on and on about failures I’ve seen with the mental health systems, at the local, state, and federal levels. It comes down to money, an individual not wanting to do their job, or people lacking common sense. It’s very sad and quite often people are put in danger because of it.

Of course the police agencies could have dropped the ball somewhere. I don’t know enough to say they didn’t, just adding my perspective to this.

Law enforcement DID take him to the hospital for mental health treatment.

“He was on our radar” is the new worn out phrase.

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Originally posted by cooger:


I could go on and on about failures I’ve seen with the mental health systems, at the local, state, and federal levels. It comes down to money

Yep. The system is rigged to keep people out of facilities here. If they are roaming the streets, and terrorizing neighborhoods, the state isn’t having to pay their room and board.

Just this week, we had a stabbing. Same guy killed another guy in 2016. By stabbing him. Did about 4 years for manslaughter. Has been arrested 3 times for felonies since he was released. He is constantly “on the radar” for mental issues. The Commonwealth has no interest in keeping the guy locked up.

And to boot, there’s a new “pilot program” here that pretrial is releasing everyone on arrest, unless it’s really violent. Get picked up on a warrant with a $5000 bond? Don’t worry, you’ll beat the officer back out of the sally port.

They do not want to pay to house anyone.

They will always blame the gun. Even when hell freezes over, that will never change. And we all know why.

Local LE did go looing for him, and article above said they did not locate him. Does that infer just 1 time, and over how many weeks?? We know there wasn't a long time frame.

Just had my annual check up and doc and I were chatting this exact case and mental illness. He mentioned there are places in the electronic records where he can place red flag comments. We here know it does not get to NICs system. To improve mental health concerns, it seems like there would need to be a way to check on someone which is fair and unobtrusive as well. Employers and medical professionals are afraid to get their asses in a lawsuit if wrong.

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Originally posted by RR:
Law enforcement DID take him to the hospital for mental health treatment.

It’s not really clear who took him in. I read that part as the Army took him in.

It seems there were two police departments, a sheriff’s office, the FBI, and the Army involved. His fellow reservists seem to have tried to pass their concern’s along to local authorities. That seems to be where the breakdown occurred. That’s not meant to be finger pointing, but clearly the warnings were not taken seriously enough somewhere along the way.

Contrast that with an 11 year kid with no means to do anything being arrested and having his face plastered all over the TV news within hours of saying something stupid on the internet. This happened in Florida a couple years ago. It’s an example of the “We take every threat seriously” that seems to have achieved mantra status.

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Originally posted by 220-9er:


The Sandy Hook kid years ago was completely unable to function yet his mother bought him the AR thinking it would give them an activity and have something in common.

Not quite accurate. It was secured, he killed her first and took the rifle.

The normalization of the “mentally ill” in this country has been going on for the last 50 years. Blaming the gun for this terrible tragedy and not placing the blame on the broken mental health system is preposterous. There were so many chances to avoid this outcome, with so many people sending up red flags and warnings. Until we get serious about treating the root cause of the problem nothing will get better.

To all the officers and first responders my hats off to you and what you are left to deal with, stay safe.

We take people on psych holds all the time. It's supposed to be a 48 hour detention (used to be 24), but more often than not they're back home the same night because the psych doc decided they were good to go. I type reports every time I do one of those, but I have no idea if they ever make it to the court system for adjudication, or if any of that data gets reported to NCIC by the courts or the psych facilities.

Just getting somebody into a facility is a nightmare. They're supposed to have to take them when we bring them with signed paperwork, but the staff know all the loopholes and exploit them to the max. I swear the psych facilities work harder to avoid doing their jobs that it would be to just do their job. Even though we have a local facility in our county, it's not uncommon for us to have a guy off the road for 4 or 5 hours doing a transport halfway across the state with a psych patient because the local facility "doesn't have any beds" or "doesn't have the staffing levels to accommodate more patients." Then later we find out that they were accepting people from out-of-county while they were rejecting ours (presumably because our local contract is less lucrative).

I also think that even when they get "treatment", it's pretty much a joke. We deal with the same people over and over again, take them in, and they come out not fixed. There have been a few cases I know of that have seen success, but those were people who genuinely wanted the help. Taking somebody in on a involuntary who doesn't want to go isn't likely to produce a positive treatment outcome...and that's not entirely the fault of the facility, either. A lot of these people just need locked up long-term.

A side not about the VA mental health system: I don't have any personal experience with the VA, because I'm not a vet, nor do we have a facility locally, but from what I'm hearing from the patients, it sucks. My shift has dealt with two in the past two weeks who were actually looking to get help and kept getting jerked around by the VA. It's about an hour drive from our county to the nearest facility, and they were cancelling appointments with no notice, then rescheduling them for months out. Eventually the guys would get frustrated on the phone trying to get a workable appointment scheduled and say something that could be construed as a threat, at which point the VA would promptly call the cops. I had another guy (this one wasn't called in by the VA) who was literally in tears because he knew he needed help, was trying to make it work for his family, and had been trying to get help through the VA for months. The story he told me about the process they'd put him through was beyond frustrating. I managed to connect him with some local resources and we got him some help outside the VA.

I didn't sign up for this job to be a social worker, but unfortunately that's a huge part of it. I don't mind helping those who actually want it, but what I've seen of the process on the court and facility side doesn't give me any hope whatsoever that the system is effectively addressing the involuntary cases.

Here's another article that lays out more detail. For example, it was the Army that initiated his stay in a mental health hospital for 14 days. It's too focused on the guns, but it details that everybody and literally his brother knew about his mental health issues.

Link:

Lewiston gunman's family tried to sound alarm about his mental health

SAGADAHOC COUNTY, Maine — In the weeks and months before the horrific massacre in Lewiston, documents show family members and the Army Reserve expressed concern about what they believed was the deteriorating mental health of and worked to get guns away from the man who would become the gunman – killing 18 and wounding 13 more.


Documents obtained on Tuesday detail incident reports by two sheriff's deputies in Sagadahoc County who talked with family members and the U.S. Army Reserve about what appeared to be a steady decline in the gunman's mental health and concern over his possession of firearms.


May 2023
On May 3, a deputy went to Mt. Ararat High School and met with the son of Lewiston gunman Robert Card in the office of the school resource officer, according to an incident report from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office.

Card's son detailed his father's struggles with mental health, stating Robert Card claimed to be hearing voices of people talking about him as far back as January. His son said Robert would become agitated, claiming people were saying derogatory things about him, "such as calling him a pedophile," documents show.

Two or three weeks before meeting with the deputy, Card's son said he stopped by to visit his father at home and Robert became very angry, accusing his son of saying things about him behind his back.

In that meeting, Card's ex-wife voiced concern for Robert's mental health and flagged to the deputy that Robert had recently picked up 10-15 handguns and rifles that had previously been stored at his brother's house.

Card's ex-wife told the deputy she would reach out to Card's brother for help, and the deputy told her they would reach out to Robert's commanding officer at the Army Reserve Center in Saco, documents show.

An administrator at the Army Reserve Center told the deputy there had been "considerable concern" for Robert and it sounded like they were aware of his recent mental health decline. The deputy then left a message with Robert's commanding officer.

When the deputy touched bases again with Card's ex-wife, she said Robert's brother claimed to her he was unaware his brother was hearing voices but brought up Robert's heavy drinking and that he apparently went on angry rants about having to shoot someone.


When the deputy got a call back from Robert's commanding officer, he told the deputy that Robert had been accusing other soldiers of "calling him a sex offender," documents show. Robert's commanding officer said he would work with his captain to figure out how to get Robert help.

The deputy later connected with Card's brother, who said he didn't realize his brother had picked up those guns from his home and was concerned by that.

On May 4, the deputy was informed that some family members went to Card's home in Bowdoin the night before, and Card answered the door with a gun in hand. But after that, the conversation with him "went very well" and Robert agreed to see a doctor about his paranoia and the voices he was hearing.

After regrouping with Card's commanding officer over the phone, the deputy was told that their plan was to sit down with Robert "in the near future" and see if they could get him to open up about what was going on.

The deputy said of that conversation, "I specifically warned about the fact Robert had allegedly answered the door with a gun yesterday."


July 2023
On July 15, the U.S. Army says that Card traveled with his Army Reserve unit to Camp Smith, New York, for annual training. Shortly after they arrived, Card's unit leadership had Card taken to a military medical treatment facility – Keller Army Community Hospital – at West Point in New York.

On July 17, the Army said Card was at Four Winds Hospital, a civilian hospital, in New York.


August 2023
On Aug. 3, the Army said Card returned home to Maine.


September 2023
In the time since the first incident report on Card in May, another deputy with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office filed a new report saying Card had been committed to a mental health facility over the summer for a couple of weeks due to the state he was in, but he'd since been released.

On Sept. 15, that deputy received a complaint from the Maine National Guard asking for a welfare check to be made on Robert Card. The Guard noted that Card was making threats to shoot up the Saco National Guard facility.

The deputy went to Card's home but did not locate him there and no car was in the driveway. That deputy filed a missing person's report. In that Sept. 15 report, the deputy flagged "CAUTION OFFICER SAFETY - KNOWN TO BE ARMED AND DANGEROUS" and advised law enforcement to "use extreme caution" when dealing with Card.

On Sept. 16, the deputy returned to Card's home and a vehicle was there. The deputy called for a deputy from Kennebec County, a neighboring jurisdiction, to back him up, and they attempted to contact card, the incident report says.

The deputy said they could hear Card moving around inside, but he would not come to the door.

"Due to being in a very disadvantageous position we decided to back away," the deputy's report says.

According to that Sept. 15 incident report, that deputy contacted the Army Reserve Center in Saco and was told that Card did not have any of the Reserve Unit's weapons and that they had made arrangements with Card's brother who had "retrieved the personal weapons" from Card.

Capt. Jeremy Reamer, according to the report, told the deputy that Card has previously not answered the door in that manner, and: "After he keeps to himself for a while he will come back out." The deputy wrote in his report that the captain "thought it best to let Card have time to himself for a bit."

On Sept. 17, the deputy's report says that he contacted Card's brother who confirmed to him that he was able to get the guns from Card and put them in a family safe at the Card farm. Card's brother also said he was working with his father to have the guns moved elsewhere.

The report says, "I expressed to [Card's brother] that it was our intention to make sure Robert does not do anything to hurt himself or others. If and when [Card's brother] does communicate with his brother to make his own judgement as to whether Robert needs an evaluation. If he thought that Robert did to call us back and we would work with him to help facilitate that."

"It should also be known that [Card's brother] told me when Robert answers the door at his trailer, in the past he usually does so with a handgun in hand out of view from the person outside," the report continued. "I was later contacted by [Card's brother] he told me that between him and his father they would work to ensure that Robert does not have access to any firearms. They have a way to secure his weapons."


October 2023
On Oct. 18 – exactly one week before Card killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in an armed rampage – for unknown reasons, the missing persons report filed on Sept. 15 by the deputy with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office, was canceled.

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff said his department never actually made contact with Robert Card.

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Originally posted by PGT:

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Originally posted by 220-9er:


The Sandy Hook kid years ago was completely unable to function yet his mother bought him the AR thinking it would give them an activity and have something in common.

Not quite accurate. It was secured, he killed her first and took the rifle.

Not quite accurate. He shot his mother four times in the head with a different unsecured rifle, then he got the AR.

Neither possible inaccuracies change the fact that the mother made a grave error in judgement with respect to her son.