It’s been nearly 10 months since Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, went into a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston on the night of Oct. 25, 2023, and opened fire, killing 18 people and wounding 13 more.

Since then, public officials, survivors of Card’s rampage and victims’ loved ones have wondered how such a tragedy could be allowed to happen, with some answers finally coming to light this week.

The seven members of the commission tasked with examining the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history issued their final report on Tuesday, laying part of the blame for the massacre at the feet of the US Army, which employed Card as a part-time reservist.

In particular, the report mentioned Capt. Jeremy Reamer, of New Hampshire, the commander of Card’s company, which was headquartered in Saco. While the report examines the actions of many people and institutions, Reamer by far is accused of more wrongdoing by name than anyone else in its “discussions and observations” section following a reciting of facts in hand.

The report acknowledges “It is evident that Reamer had inadequate support in a difficult situation.” 

It also, however, appears to blame Reamer for any lack of assistance the army may have given both to Card himself and to local law enforcement in the months leading up to the shooting, particularly regarding Card’s follow-up psychiatric care.

“The failure was due to the inaction of the company leadership and commander, Captain Jeremy Reamer,” the report’s authors wrote.

‘ROBERT’S MENTAL HEALTH IS IN DECLINE’

The report indicates accounts of Card’s erratic behavior dating back to the winter of 2023, based on testimony from a fellow reservist and Card’s son, then-17-year-old Colby, who passed his concerns to his mother and Card’s ex-wife, Cara Lamb.

Colby said his father was acting paranoid and insisting that people were talking about him, calling him “gay and a pedophile.” On May 3, 2023, Colby and his mother spoke about Card’s behavior to the school resource officer at Colby’s school. The officer contacted the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department, which led to Deputy Sheriff Chad Carleton getting involved.

Carleton spoke with First Sgt. Kelvin Mote, Card’s local commander in Saco, where the report indicates Mote said other members of the unit “were starting to see behavioral changes in Card.”

While there was talk about Mote and other leaders sitting down with Card in the spring of 2023, the report indicates there is no evidence that actually happened. Meanwhile, Lamb and other members of Card’s family were discovering more unsettling details. In one incident, Card’s brother paid him a visit and said Card came to the door with a gun.

The family told Carleton about this, prompting the deputy sheriff to issue a warning to patrol deputies about Card that said, in part, “Robert’s mental health is in decline, and he is experiencing paranoia and hearing voices.”

According to the report, Card’s sister, Nicole Herling, attempted to reach out to Card’s unit leadership to talk about his mental health in June 2023, leaving several voice mails, but “no one called her back.”

‘I BELIEVE HE IS GOING TO SNAP’

Members of Card’s Army Reserve unit first became acutely aware of his mental health issues during a training exercise at the US Military Academy in New York on July 15, 2023. According to the members’ testimony, Card began behaving aggressively toward them and accused them and others of talking about him or accusing him of, among other things, “being a pedophile.”

Card’s behavior, including what Mote described as a “thousand-yard stare,” was disturbing enough that New York State Police troopers were called to the academy the next morning. At the time, local unit leaders called Reamer to request an order for Card to be psychologically evaluated. It appears in the report to be the first direct request of Reamer to take any action involving Card.

Reamer gave the order, which led to Card being held in a hospital until his release on Aug. 3, 2023. Part of Card’s evaluation included a diagnosis by Capt. Matthew Dickison, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, of “unspecified psychosis not due to a substance or physiological condition.”

Card, according to the report, had responded well to therapy and medication. After Card’s release, Dickison is cited in the report several times as issuing Reamer a number of recommendations for Card’s follow-up care, including:

• Making sure Card attended follow-up appointments.
• Keeping Card engaged with other unit members.
• Encouraging Card to temporarily turn over any personal weapons to the unit for safekeeping.
• Start the medical board process to assess Card’s fitness for duty.

“Reamer neglected to follow any of the recommendations Dickison gave him,” the report’s authors wrote. “In fact, he ignored them.”

The report indicated that Card failed to voluntarily engage with follow-up care. Reamer, the report found, didn’t follow up at any time regarding Card’s care, and didn’t read many of the emails he received from Card’s treatment providers. He also didn’t ensure that Card would be present at “battle assemblies,” routine events where Card would have interacted with his fellow reservists.

Regarding making sure Card didn’t have any firearms, the report indicated Reamer took no action himself to seize firearms, nor did he contact the sheriff’s department to inquire about removing Card’s weapons.

“Reamer inexplicably left the task to Sean Hodgson, Carl’s friend, who had no authority over Card,” the committee wrote.

Hodgson, who remained in contact with Card’s commanders, relayed a chilling message to both Reamer and Mote about Card following an incident early in the morning on Sept. 13, 2023. 

Hodgson said that he and Card were driving home when Card “suddenly became very angry, pounded the steering wheel, and punched Hodgson in the face.” 

Hodgson managed to get out of the car and, upon returning home, called Reamer to say what had happened, but “Reamer took no action.”

A few days later, on Sept. 15, a little more than a month before the shootings, Hodgson sent a text message to both Reamer and Mote, which read in part, “I believe he is messed up in the head … I love to death but do not know how to help him and he refuses to get help or continue help … And yes, he still has all his weapons … I believe he is going to snap and do a mass shooting.”

The text message also suggested Card wanted to do something violent at the unit’s Saco headquarters. Mote, who told the commission the text message caused “the hairs to go up on the back of my neck,” talked with Reamer about it. They decided to ask the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department to conduct a well-being check on Card.

"I DON’T THINK THIS IS GONNA GET ANY BETTER.”

The report does not appear to list any more direct action on Reamer’s part regarding Card’s behavior. On at least two occasions, Reamer spoke to local police in Maine about Card, and did not convey any stark warnings.

When Saco police contacted him on Sept. 16 about Card’s threat to the Saco Army headquarters, the report found, “He … downplayed the severity of the threat relayed by Hodgson despite his knowledge of Card’s long hospitalization just eight weeks earlier and the fact that other members of the (army reserve) were deeply worried.”

Later that same day, when a sheriff’s deputy called Reamer regarding Card’s firearms, “Reamer did not suggest that Card needed to undergo a risk assessment, and despite acknowledging that ‘I don’t think this is gonna get any better,’ he appeared to minimize the risk that Card posed to the community.” It is the last mention of any involvement by Reamer before Oct. 25.

After the shootings, Reamer appeared before the commission in April 2024, giving testimony regarding his actions leading up to October 2023. Commission member and retired forensic psychologist Debra Baeder asked Reamer why he didn’t ask for more than a mere well-being check, given what he knew about Card.

Reamer, a police officer in New Hampshire, said he didn’t want to tell local Maine police how to do their jobs.

Baeder, describing Reamer’s request to simply check that Card was breathing as an “under reaction,” said, “You understand that there’s a disconnect there in my mind?”

Reamer replied: “I can understand that’s your understanding of it.”

This week, Bryce S. Dubee, a spokesperson for the army in Washington, said that the army has already conducted an internal investigation into the events leading up to the shootings.

“The army reserve’s investigation found errors made by unit leadership, and recommended appropriate administrative action be taken against three officers in Card’s chain of command for dereliction of duty,” Dubee said.

Dubee said the discipline has been completed, but declined to state which officers were disciplined, or indicate if any have since been discharged. Dubee did say that the army reserve is also making changes to its policies regarding its psychological health program.

“Army leadership is committed to reviewing the findings and implementing sound changes to prevent tragedies like this from recurring,” he said.

The following is the first of three stories detailing the findings of the independent commission examining the facts surrounding the mass shootings in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023.