Maine Police Knew of Threats

Statewide alert had gone out in mid-September
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 29, 2023 10:10 AM CDT
Maine Alerted Police Last Month After Threats
Law enforcement continue a manhunt in the aftermath of a mass shooting, in Durham, Maine, on Friday.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Police across Maine were alerted just last month to "veiled threats" by the Army reservist who they said went on to carry out the worst mass shooting in the state's history, one of a string of missed red flags that preceded the massacre. Two local law enforcement chiefs told the AP that a statewide awareness alert was sent in mid-September to be on the lookout for Robert Card after the firearms instructor made threats against his base and fellow soldiers. But after stepped-up patrols of the base and a visit to Card's home—neither of which turned up any sign of him—they moved on.

"We added extra patrols, we did that for about two weeks. ... The guy never showed up," said Jack Clements, the police chief in Saco, home to the Army Reserve base where Card trained. Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, whose jurisdiction includes Card's home in Bowdoin, said the Army Reserve tipped his department in September to the reservist's threats, and the sheriff sent the awareness alert to every law enforcement agency in the state after his deputy came back empty-handed from a welfare check to Card's home. "We couldn't locate him," Merry said, adding that he couldn't recall if there was any follow-up because "I don't have any reports in front of me."

Military officials declined to comment further about Card, specifically whether the threats relayed to the sheriff in September were new or the same ones Card had made during an Army reserve training exercise near West Point, New York, in July. That's when police say Card was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks after acting erratically and "hearing voices and threats to shoot up" a military base. Despite the earlier threats, the FBI said Saturday that Card had not been on its radar, telling the AP it "did not have nor did it receive any tips or information concerning Robert Card." The bureau added that its instant background check system "was not provided with or in possession of any information that would have prohibited Card from a lawful firearm purchase."

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Card's case stands as a glaring example of missed red flags, with many unanswered questions about what the military, police, mental health professionals, and relatives could have done to prevent the massacre. Clements defended his department's response to the alert about Card, which he described as a "generic thing that came out saying, hey, you know, we've had some report that this guy's made some veiled threats." Clements noted that his department gets many such alerts and that his officers gave this one its due attention, keeping an eye on the base for any sign of Card. "Never came in contact with this guy, never received any phone calls from the reserve center saying, 'Hey, we got somebody who was causing a problem,'" he said. "We never got anything."

(More Maine mass shooting stories.)

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