Army officials knew of the danger posed by reservist Robert Card prior to the deadly shooting rampage last fall, but Card’s battalion commander told the Lewiston shooting commission on Monday that there was only so much authority the army could wield over him.

“I don’t understand why people think that this is like an active-duty post,” Lt. Col. Ryan Vasquez said. “It’s not.”

Vasquez took command of the battalion in June 2023, with about 211 soldiers under his command. The battalion includes one company and headquarters located in Saco, where Card was stationed as a reservist.

Months after Vasquez took over, Card, 40, of Bowdoin, would kill 18 people and wound 13 more at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023. 

During Monday’s testimony, commission members asked Vasquez about how aware he had been of multiple warning signs leading up to the shooting, and what he and his battalion had done about them.

Vasquez repeated several times that when Card was not on base, he was a civilian, and therefore there was little Vasquez could do.

For example, Vasquez said, he was aware that Card had spent some time in a psychiatric hospital in New York in the summer of 2023, and that Card was not complying with required ongoing treatment once he was released.  

Still, Vasquez said, the army can’t enforce the treatment of what is essentially a civilian.

“If they’re not compliant with their treatment, I don’t have a lot of tools in my toolbox, legally, to do anything,” he said. 

Vasquez reiterated his lack of authority when it came to making sure Card didn’t have access to weapons. On base, Card didn’t have access to anything, but if he owned personal firearms at his home, Vasquez said, there was no legal mechanism for the army to search for or seize firearms at a civilian’s home.

“I don’t have the authority to go to his house,” he said. “My people aren’t trained to go and retrieve weapons from somebody’s house like that.” 

Vasquez testified that Capt. Jeremy Reamer did contact law enforcement to alert them to their concerns, and that other army officials contacted Card’s family to try to help secure any firearms at Card’s home.

When commission member Anne Jordan asked if the army followed up with Card’s family to see if firearms had been removed, Vasquez said, “Not that I know of.”

Commission member and Portland attorney Toby Dilworth asked Vasquez what his unit could have done differently. Vasquez said army officials are still evaluating the procedures followed but declined to speak on the subject further.

“Sir, if you want to ask me about a fact, I’ll answer in a fact,” he said. “I don’t want to speculate.” 

Vasquez did, however, say, “Yes, and some,” when asked by commission member Paula Silsby if he felt the battalion did everything within its authority.

Fellow Army reservists have said they witnessed the decline of Card's mental health to the point that he was hospitalized for two weeks during training last summer. One reservist, Sean Hodgson, told superiors Sept. 15: "I believe he's going to snap and do a mass shooting."

Vazquez told the commission on Monday that Card was considered a "low threat" who should be kept away from weapons because of medication he was on after his hospitalization, and there were not indications that he could do something as drastic as commit a mass shooting.

He later learned of Card's threat in September to "shoot up" the Saco army battalion where his unit was based.

"I think we're dealing with a person who had a lot of metal challenges going on at the time, and he was deteriorating," Vazquez said. "So for me to predict what he would have done, how he would have done it, I'm way out of my league."

Vazquez testified in front of an independent commission established by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. The commission has held several public sessions with police and Army officials, victims' family members, survivors and others to get a fuller picture of the circumstances surrounding the shootings.

An interim report released by the commission in March found that law enforcement should have seized Card's guns and put him in protective custody weeks before he committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting. Card died by suicide in the aftermath of the shootings.

Card's command officer also acknowledged to the independent commission in April that he didn't take action when the reservist skipped counselor sessions, and didn't attempt to verify that the shooter's family took away his guns.

Monday, members of the Lewiston commission acknowledged during Vazquez's testimony that Card's Army superiors faced limitations in the months before the shootings.

"We have all come to have a very acute appreciation of the lack of authority the command structure has over the reservists," said Paula Silsby, a member of the commission and a former United States attorney for the District of Maine.

The shootings are also the subject of a review by the Army Reserves and an investigation by the Army Inspector General. Army officials have indicated the reports could be available early this summer. Vazquez said during Monday's hearing he was unaware of when the Reserves report is coming out.

An Army health official told the panel last week that another challenge is there are limitations in health care coverage for reservists compared with full-time soldiers.

The Lewiston commission is expected to release its full report about the shootings this summer.

With reporting by Patrick Whittle of the Associated Press.