LEGAL Survivors, families of victims in Maine’s deadliest shooting gear up for potential lawsuit against Army

[Kathy in FL]

Survivors, families of victims in Maine’s deadliest shooting gear up for potential lawsuit against Army​

The 100 survivors and families of the victims of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting have begun the process of suing the Army, as lawyers allege that the branch failed to stop the assailant from committing the atrocity, according to reports.

Army Reservist Robert Card opened fire on a crowd of people at two separate locations in Maine in late 2023, killing 18 people and wounding 13 more. Lawyers representing survivors and families of the victims announced they are planning to file a legal notice to the Army on Tuesday, the first step in a potential lawsuit against the branch. Lawyer’s allege that the Army failed to prevent Card from committing the shooting, claiming that the branch was aware there were clear warning signs that he was mentally unstable, according to reports.

“It is difficult to conceive of a case in which Army personnel could have more warning signs and opportunities to intervene to prevent a service member from committing a mass shooting than what happened in the case of Army Reservist Robert Card,” lawyers wrote in their formal notice sent to the Department of Defense (DOD) on Friday, according to reports.

Four law firms are representing the families, according to reports. Though a lawsuit hasn’t yet been filed, a formal notice filed to DOD is the first step in the process.

The lawyers allege that the Army knew that Card had been in severe mental health decline, according to reports. Card had become disturbed, paranoid and expressed ideations of murder, and had created a “hit list” of people he wanted to kill.

Card warned in September 2023 that he wanted to “shoot up” an armory, and a friend of his had warned that he wanted to commit “a mass shooting,” but the Army failed to give proper background information to doctors who requested that Card’s access to weapons be restricted, according to reports. Card’s officer brushed off the warnings by defaming the friend in question’s character.

Card entered a bowling alley and a bar he had often frequented and opened fire on patrons at the two locations on Oct. 25, 2023, killing 18 people. Card was found to have committed suicide by gunshot two days later.

A Maine independent commission found in August that there were numerous chances for the Army to take action, according to reports. The Army said in July that unit leadership took “consistent and sustained actions” to address Card’s declining mental health but also admitted that “there were also a series of failures by unit leadership.”

The notices filed by the lawyers said that the U.S. federal government has six months to conduct a full investigation, or else a lawsuit will be filed.

“If the U.S. chooses to run out the clock by sitting on our claims without acting, we will file our action six months and one day from today,” one of the lawyers representing the families said in a statement, according to NBC News. “We are committed to moving forward and ensuring accountability and justice for our clients.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Survivors, families of victims in Maine’s deadliest shooting gear up for potential lawsuit against Army - The Daily Bo Snerdley

The 100 survivors and families of the victims of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting have begun the process of suing the Army, as lawyers allege that the branch failed to stop the assailant from committing the atrocity, according to reports. Army Reservist Robert Card opened fire on a crowd of...

thedailybs.com

 

[john70]

4 law firms talk 100 people into selling their dead for a brass ring
the 100 people will end up with a small bit of brass
the law firms will be rich
but
who will pay if the killer does not have a job
do we go back to ma and pa

 

[greysage]

Card entered a bowling alley and a bar he had often frequented and opened fire on patrons at the two locations on Oct. 25, 2023, killing 18 people. Card was found to have committed suicide by gunshot two days later.

I don't know what people expect should have been done by the guy's superiors in the Reserve.
They tried to have the guys back. More than likely, his superiors were prevented from talking about an enlistees specific medical issues. As would any business or organization.

Where'd the guy get the guns and ammunition from? The Army Reserve? I doubt it.

 

[Griz3752]

Where'd the guy get the guns and ammunition from? The Army Reserve? I doubt it.

That was the 1st thing to pop into my brain: were the weapons property of the Army? Was the ammo misappropriated from Military stores?

What respondibility does an armed force have in the face of various HR laws, HIPPA etc et al?

 

[Mzkitty]

Months before Maine mass shooting, police videos show how Army and police tried to intervene​

The videos from three officers’ body cameras show police and Army colleagues debating how to help Robert Card seek mental health treatment. A few months later, he shot and killed 18 people.​

2/21/24



Newly released video shows what may be the last time law enforcement officers engaged directly with Robert Card, a few months before the Army reservist carried out the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history.

The videos from three officers’ body cameras, released by New York State Police, show the officers moving cautiously and expressing great concern for Card’s well-being. They end with Card leaving peacefully for what would become two weeks of mental health treatment.

Yet even during the interaction in July, months before the mass shooting that left 18 dead, the videos show Card complaining bitterly about people constantly berating him. He warns officers he is “capable,” saying others are afraid he’ll “freaking do something.”

Katherine Keneally, head of threat analysis and prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said the evidence leading up to Card’s shooting shows that even when people try to warn authorities about, and get help for, people who are at risk of committing a shooting, those efforts often prove futile.

“What we're seeing is that — regardless of people taking the appropriate steps, contacting law enforcement, seeking mental health help for the person — they're still getting access to guns,” Keneally said.

USA TODAY investigation:One law might have taken Robert Card's guns before mass shooting. Officers didn't use it.

What Robert Card body-camera video shows​

The videos from July 2023, released Tuesday to USA TODAY, document the police response after members of Card's unit called for assistance. The Maine unit was on a training trip to Camp Smith in upstate New York when his colleagues became alarmed by Card's increasingly erratic behavior.

For nearly an hour, New York officers interview members of Card's unit, whose faces and names are redacted from the video. They speak to an Army official on speakerphone. They discuss their attempts to reach Card's relatives to better understand his condition.

The video also shows officers considering what authority they would have under state law to compel Card to seek mental health treatment – and how direct orders from superiors in his Army unit would play out. They discuss the likelihood of getting help at a local hospital as well as Veterans Affairs mental health care.

In the end, officers enter a dorm hallway, knock on Card's door and speak with him for several minutes.

Card first appears on the video shirtless with a shaved head and his black armband tattoo. He then puts on a black Army shirt, sits on his bed and chats with officers.

Card tells the officers that he has increasingly been hearing people talking about him behind his back. He says people have been accusing him of being a pedophile, but seems unable to place exactly where the claims come from.

"It’s happening everywhere," he tells them, saying he's "hearing bits and pieces of it and it’s getting old."

Police continue to reason with him, noting that the fellow reservists in his unit don't seem to be insulting him. "I hope you understand, they’re concerned enough about your welfare that they called us," one officer says.

“Because they’re scared," Card responds. "Cause I’m going to freaking do something, because I am capable.”

"What do you mean by that?" the officer asks.

Card replies: "Nothing."

After treatment, more warnings, but no intervention​

In the end, Card was taken to a base hospital, then transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Katonah, New York, for two weeks of treatment. After that, the Army took other precautions, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro told USA TODAY in October.

“The Army directed that the service member should not have a weapon, handle ammunition and not participate in live fire activity,” Castro said. “The Army also declared the service member non-deployable due to concerns over his well-being.”

Yet by the middle of September, the Army was growing even more concerned about Card and asked his local sheriff’s department, the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, to check on him. Sagadahoc deputies had already been in contact with members of Card’s family for months, and knew Card to be heavily armed and possibly in a state of distress.

The July police videos also offer something of an early concern about Card’s personal weapons cache. When police arrive at the New York Army camp and speak to Card’s fellow reservists, one can be heard telling them, “I’m his first sergeant. This guy does have $20,000-$30,000 worth of guns and rifles and stuff at home.”

By September, in a letter to the sheriff’s office, an Army Reserve commander said Card was upset at his command because the mental health commitment “was the reason he can't buy guns anymore,” and that a fellow soldier “is concerned that Card is going to snap and commit a mass shooting.”

Local deputies then approached Card at home twice but never spoke to him, according to department records. Months after Card’s shooting, in a hearing before a state commission established to review the case, Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said his deputies could not have taken Card into custody before the shooting based on any of the reports.

Card’s reserve commander, Capt. Jeremy Reamer, also apparently advised the deputies to back down at the time, saying forcing contact might not be advantageous.

“He thought it best to let Card have time with himself for a bit,” a police report stated.

The department requested a “File 6” – a teletype alert to every law enforcement agency in Maine to be on the lookout for Card. That alert was lifted on Oct. 18. The sheriff’s office did not say why.

A week later, Card shot 31 people, killing 18. Police found Card’s body days later, dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Watch the video at link:

Months before Maine mass shooting, police videos show how Army and police tried to intervene

The videos released by New York police end peacefully, with Robert Card being sent for mental health treatment. Yet he warns he can "freaking do something."

www.usatoday.com

 

[Macgyver]

So lawyers are going to get our tax dollars, great.

This guy was a kook and should have been in a Looney bin.
I got nothing wrong with suing the government to fire every one related to this pooch screw.

 

[Housecarl]

This is the same organization that's ignored potential psychological damage from anti- malaria drugs, TBI and PTSD. Never mind the Covid-19 shot. Is anyone really surprised by this case?