There’s little the military can do to stop Robert Card

Army officials knew of the danger posed by reservist Robert Card before last fall’s deadly shooting, but Card’s battalion commander told the Lewiston shooting board Monday that the Army could not exercise only limited authority over him.

“I don’t understand why people think it’s like an active duty position,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Vasquez. “It’s not.”

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

Months after Vasquez took office, Card, 40, of Bowdoin, allegedly killed 18 people and injured 13 others at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston on October 25, 2023.

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

Vasquez repeatedly said that when Card was not on base, he was a civilian and therefore Vasquez could not do much.

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

Still, Vasquez said, the military cannot impose the treatment afforded to 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 ensuring Card did not have access to weapons. On base, Card had no access to anything, but if he had personal firearms at his home, Vasquez said, there was no legal mechanism for the military to search or seize firearms at the home of a civilian.

“I don’t have the authority to go to his house,” he said. “My men are not trained to go and collect weapons from someone like that.”

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

When commission member Anne Jordan asked if the Army had followed up with Card’s family to see if the guns had been removed, Vasquez responded, “Not to my knowledge.”

Commission member and Portland attorney Toby Dilworth asked Vasquez what his unit could have done differently. Vasquez said Army officials were still evaluating the procedures followed, but declined to comment further on the matter.

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

Vasquez, however, responded, “Yes, and some,” when asked by commission member Paula Silsby if he thought the battalion was doing everything within its authority.

Fellow Army reservists said they witnessed Card’s mental health decline, to the point where he was hospitalized for two weeks during training last summer. A reservist, Sean Hodgson, told his superiors on September 15, “I think he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.” »

Vazquez told the commission Monday that Card was considered a “low threat” who needed to be kept away from weapons because of the medications he was taking after his hospitalization, and there was no indication he could do anything. something as drastic as committing a mass shooting.

He later learned in September that Card had threatened to “shoot” the Saco Army battalion where his unit was based.

“I think we’re dealing with a person who was having a lot of problems with metal at that time, and his condition 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 before an independent commission created by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. The commission held several public sessions with police and military officials, family members of the victims, survivors and others to get a more complete picture of the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

An interim report released by the commission in March found that law enforcement should have seized Card’s weapons and placed him in protective custody weeks before he committed Maine’s deadliest mass shooting. Card committed suicide following the shooting.

Card’s commander also admitted to the independent commission in April that he took no action when the reservist skipped sessions with advisors, and that he did not attempt to verify that the shooter’s family had confiscated his weapons.

On Monday, Lewiston commission members acknowledged during Vazquez’s testimony that Card’s Army superiors had faced limitations in the months leading up to the shooting.

“We all became aware of the command structure’s lack of authority over reservists,” said commission member Paula Silsby, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Maine.

The shootings are also the subject of a review by the Army Reserve and an investigation by the Army Inspector General. Army officials said the reports could be available by early summer. Vazquez said during Monday’s hearing that he did not know when the reserves report would be released.

An Army health official told the panel last week that another challenge is limited health care coverage for reservists compared to full-time soldiers.

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

With reporting by Patrick Whittle of the Associated Press.