Survivors of Maine mass shooting and victims’ relatives sue US government alleging negligence

Survivors of Maine s deadliest mass shooting and relatives of casualties are suing the federal regime alleging that the U S Army could and should have stopped one of its reservists from carrying out what they call one of the majority preventable mass tragedies in American history Eighteen people were killed in October when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill An independent commission appointed by Maine s governor later concluded that there were numerous opportunities for intervention by both Army bureaucrats and civilian law enforcement as Card s mental strength deteriorated He was exposed dead by suicide two days after the shootings The lawsuit filed in federal court on behalf of more than survivors and casualties family members accuses the U S executive of negligence saying its conduct directly and proximately caused the mass shooting It alleges that Army leaders and others failed to act reasonably broke the promises they made to Card s family and their locality violated mandatory polices procedures and disregarded directives and orders By March the United States and its personnel knew Card was paranoid delusional violent and lacked impulse control The Army knew he had access to firearms The Army promised to remove his guns but did not fulfill that promise the lawsuit states Worse through its acts and omissions the Army withheld information and actively misled local law enforcement thereby preventing others from intervening and separating Card from his weapons Attorneys plan to provide more details Wednesday at a news conference in Lewiston not far from where the shootings took place The attorneys began the process of suing the regime a little less than a year ago when they filed notices of claim saying the Army did not act despite being aware of Card s mental soundness decline Card s mental wellness spiral led to his hospitalization and left him paranoid delusional and expressing homicidal ideations the claim declared He even produced a hit list of those he demanded to attack attorneys have commented Family members and fellow reservists revealed Card had exhibited delusional and paranoid behavior months before the shootings He was hospitalized by the Army during training in July in New York where his unit was training West Point cadets but Army Reserve administrators have acknowledged that no one made sure Card was taking his medication or complying with his follow-up care at home in Bowdoin Maine The starkest warning came in a September text from a fellow reservist I believe he s going to snap and do a mass shooting From the start the Army disregarded its mandatory policies and procedures and regulations when dealing with Card the lawsuit states Despite the serious issues Card presented at the company or battalion level they were not released up the chain of command to senior military functionaries with the knowledge experience and materials to address them Instead low-ranking part-time personnel mis-managed the risks resulting in disastrous consequences Army authorities conducted their own examination after the shootings that Lt Gen Jody Daniels then the chief of the Army Reserve commented ascertained a series of failures by unit leadership Three Army Reserve leaders were disciplined for dereliction of duty according to the assessment When the governor s commission issued its final overview last August the Army issued a comment saying it was committed to reviewing the findings and implementing sound changes to prevent tragedies like this from recurring The Lewiston shootings led to new guns laws in Maine a state with a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership The laws prompted legal action on the part of gun rights advocates in the state and remain a contentious topic nearly two years after the shootings