>> A mass casualty event playing out in Lewistown, Maine.

>> NARRATION: In collaboration with Maine Public Radio and the Portland Press Herald.

An investigation into Maine’s deadliest mass shooting.

>> In the lens of hindsight, I absolutely would have done things differently had I known what was going to happen in October.

>> We need to learn more about exposures in the military, not just in combat, but in training.

>> This wasn’t one breakdown.

This was a series of mistakes.

And all of these put together put us on the track to Lewiston.

>> (mouthing) >> NARRATION: Now, as part of FRONTLINE’s local journalism initiative... Breakdown In Maine.

(sirens wailing) >> (speaking on radio) Need you to respond to the town of Lewiston.

An active shooter incident.

Multiple people down.

(sirens continue) >> NARRATOR: The bowling alley was the shooter's first stop.

♪ ♪ 45 seconds, 18 shots, eight people dead, three wounded.

He got in his car and headed south four miles-- Schemengees Bar and Grille.

(people talking in background) >> So, I was facing the shooter and Jennifer right in front of me, and that's when he walked in, shot the guy at the bar, and then, I guess the other couple of people playing pool, and then towards us, which hit Jennifer in the shoulder.

(inhales) So it was about 20 feet away from us when he walked in.

(people talking in background) >> NARRATOR: In the bar, a group of friends who are Deaf and hard of hearing-- regulars who play cornhole together, including Megan Vozzella's husband, Steve.

>> (mouthing) ♪ ♪ >> He shot three times, and then I heard someone say, "Get down."

And then we all got down.

(breathes deeply) And then after that, it was just, I crawled.

Every time he shot, I stopped crawling.

We saw the kitchen door open, and we booked it out the door.

>> NARRATOR: It was over in 78 seconds.

36 shots.

Ten more dead.

Ten more wounded.

♪ ♪ The shooter disappeared into the night.

>> Both rigs at Schemengees, multiple victims.

>> ...any other available transporting units to Schemengees.

(phone ringing) >> ...town of Lewiston for an active shooter incident, all available units.

>> A mass casualty event playing out in Lewiston, Maine.

>> Multiple, multiple fatalities... >> They are still looking for that shooter.

He's considered armed and extremely dangerous.

>> I suggest that you go-- we have an active shooter and we're not sure where he's at as of this moment, okay?

>> Okay, I see.

>> NARRATOR: Maine State Police issued a shelter-in-place order around the city of Lewiston.

>> They are telling people to stay inside their homes, to lock their doors.

>> NARRATOR: They were looking for 40-year-old Robert Card, a trained marksman and grenade instructor in the Army Reserve.

>> People should not approach him under any circumstances.

>> The manhunt at this hour now involving more than 350 law enforcement personnel from multiple states and from federal agencies.

>> NARRATOR: It would take two days before he was found.

>> The suspect shooter here in Maine has been found dead.

Robert Card reportedly now found dead.

>> NARRATOR: 18 people were killed.

Two women, 15 men.

A father and his teenage son.

A married couple in their 70s.

Four Deaf friends.

It was among the country's deadliest mass shootings, the highest death toll ever in the state of Maine, particularly devastating for the Deaf community.

>> (mouthing) ♪ ♪ >> Even though we as Americans know this can happen anywhere, when it happens in the place you love, and to the people who know each other, it's a gut punch.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: For more than a year, journalists from Maine Public Radio and the "Portland Press Herald," along with "Frontline," have been investigating the events leading up to the massacre in Lewiston-- combing through documents, listening to testimony, and conducting dozens of interviews.

>> Everyone has a different way of processing their grief and trauma.

>> It became clear days after the shooting that there were breakdowns on a whole lot of levels.

I'm really trying to understand the system here...

It wasn't one mistake.

It wasn't one person, wasn't one institution.

...two different hospitals involved... >> People had known the danger that he posed to the community.

People had known the mental health crises that he was experiencing.

People had tried to get help from law enforcement, from mental health providers, from Army officials.

>> ...personally did not follow up with him... >> It was so glaringly apparent that there were missed warning signs.

♪ ♪ >> There are countless instances where, if things were done a little bit differently, this may not have happened.

♪ ♪ >> For months after the shooting, we were trying to get a sense of who Robert Card was leading up to this, because to us, that was a key piece of the puzzle in terms of figuring out what happened.

>> NARRATOR: Card spent most of his life in the small Maine town of Bowdoin, where his family had lived for generations.

He was a sergeant first class in the Army Reserve... (fires) ...training cadets on grenades and heavy weapons.

(fires) (explosion echoes) And that's where he first met his friend Sean Hodgson.

>> Great guy, you can always rely on him.

That guy would hand you money out of his own pocket and really didn't care if you paid him back or not.

I lost my place to live.

I got evicted.

I called Robert Card, and unexpectedly, he told me to get my butt up here.

You know, he helped me out, gave me a place to live till I got back on my feet.

>> Sean Hodgson was Robert Card's best friend.

He was also a delivery driver for the same company, and they would often spend their nights as they are driving their trucks on speakerphone with one another, just kind of passing the time chatting.

There was a real trust there.

>> Once we got our schedules aligned, we started going bowling on our days off.

Just-In-Time bowling alley.

>> NARRATOR: The two men supported each other through difficult times in their lives.

>> Sean was deployed to Afghanistan.

He describes that he was having very serious PTSD from that experience.

And he started getting into trouble.

>> Sean Hodgson was, in some ways, a troubled person.

Has troubles with alcohol.

He has been in trouble within his Army Reserve unit for some behaviors while he was on duty.

>> NARRATOR: It was Sean Hodgson who was one of the first to notice and report changes in Robert Card's behavior.

>> He would call me and vent.

I listened to him.

I listened to all his rants.

All the good stuff, all the bad stuff, so I don't know why...

He believed people were alienating him, and it wasn't the case.

It was... (breathes deeply) With him increasingly getting worse, thinking people were talking about him, um, including his own family.

You know, he was thinking people were calling him a pedophile.

It hurt his feelings, bad, and struck him in the heart, because he does love kids.

He's got his own son.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: In the spring of 2023, Card's ex-wife, Cara Lamb, got an urgent message from their teenage son, Colby.

>> He said he didn't want to go to his dad's anymore, that... (voice trembling): ...he didn't feel safe.

You know, his dad basically was telling Colby, as they're in a big box store, a Lowe's or Home Depot or somewhere like that, you know, they're over here in aisle one, and Rob is absolutely convinced that he can hear what these two 90-year-old little mom-and-pop couple that are four feet tall are saying very specific things about Rob, and that he can hear them that far away.

That he was a pedophile.

Um, that he was gay.

His dad was very, very adamant that he heard this, and if you didn't believe that he heard it, you were in on it.

You were against him.

He was afraid his dad was getting violent, and getting so aggressive that he was going to be physically violent.

>> NARRATOR: And there was another concern.

Colby said his father was amassing guns.

>> I asked him how many guns that was, and he says, "I don't know-- could be ten, 15."

I was incredibly concerned that calling the police and having them show up in his driveway...

I didn't want it to come back on Colby, and I said, "Listen, let's go talk "to the school resource officer and ask, "'What do we do?

What can we do in this scenario?'"

Because if this comes from us, Rob is going to take it out on Colby.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Colby's school resource officer called in Deputy Chad Carleton from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office.

>> Well, he said to us, "There's only so much "you can do in this situation.

Your hands are kind of tied."

Because he hasn't actually pointed a gun at Colby or myself.

He hasn't actually said, "I am going to go shoot a bunch of people at this place."

>> NARRATOR: Deputy Carleton was among the first from law enforcement alerted to the concerns about Robert Card.

He later issued a report that cautioned other officers that Card was exhibiting paranoid behavior and had ten to 15 firearms.

Deputy Carleton testified before a state commission established to investigate the shootings.

>> Based upon the information that they gave you, did you believe that Robert Card was mentally ill or suffering from some sort of a mental health crisis?

>> Yes, I did.

>> And did you understand that he had access to many firearms?

>> Yes, I did.

>> Did you believe that he presented a likelihood of serious harm?

>> Not at that time.

>> That line of questioning is designed to find out whether Deputy Carleton could use Maine's yellow flag law, which is used by police officers to begin the process of confiscating somebody's weapons if they're a harm to themselves or others.

>> NARRATOR: Unlike red flag laws in 21 other states and Washington, D.C., Maine's unique yellow flag law is a multi-step process that includes a mental health evaluation.

>> The first step is, the police have to make a determination of dangerousness.

The second one, they have to take that person into protective custody.

While the person is in protective custody, then they have to be presented before a mental health professional to make a determination whether that person is dangerous.

And then after that, the case of the petition is brought to a judge, who then adjudicates the claim to determine whether or not the person's firearms need to be taken.

Yellow flag suggests caution, deliberation, and that's intentional.

I mean, that's why advocates for the law wanted to demonstrate that weapons or guns would not be taken arbitrarily or without great care.

In Maine, police have a decision to make, just as Deputy Carleton did, whether or not he was going to pursue that angle or not.

>> Protective custody requires someone to be in front of you.

It requires access to a person to make that happen...

I was being told that access to the person was a bad idea...

I thought the best course of action was going to be to work with the family and with the Army to get him to the help he need, needed to set him on a better course in life.

>> NARRATOR: Deputy Carleton reached out to one of Card's superiors in the Army Reserve, First Sergeant Kelvin Mote, who recommended Card be taken to the hospital, and said he'd talk to him.

>> So I talked with him and see if those, the conditions manifested themselves with us.

Why are there... You know, "Why are you... What are you hearing?

Where are you hearing it?"

That sort of thing, that was going to be... >> Did you have any conversations with Robert Card between May 4 and June 2?

>> I did not, no.

>> Nobody from the Army ever confronts Card about this stuff in May or in any drill for the next several months.

The buck has been passed from Sagadahoc over to the Army, but then nothing happens from there.

>> NARRATOR: Deputy Carleton also heard additional concerns about Card's behavior from his family.

>> Is it correct that when you went there to meet with him, he met you at the door holding a gun in his hand?

>> Yes, he had.

>> And that-- was that very disturbing behavior to you?

>> To me, yes, because I do not associate with guns...

So when we knocked on the door, he had the gun in his hand up against the wall-- like this, I believe.

And then once he saw it was me, he kicked the door open, and then held it behind his back, and moved it around his, moved it around his body as he walked to the bedroom, went to the bedroom, probably put it away, and then came back and just kind of kicked back in the chair.

>> But even after that disturbing beginning, did you and Ryan have a productive conversation with him?

>> Yeah.

I mean, it was a really-- I mean, we laughed.

We cried... >> But your brother agreed that he would start some kind of program when you met with him?

>> Yeah, so, we really tried to help him understand, without putting him under attack, that he may have a problem.

And Robbie just kept saying, "I'm not effing crazy.

I'm not crazy, this stuff is really happening."

>> NARRATOR: In the weeks that followed, Card's condition deteriorated, and his family grew increasingly worried.

>> He felt like everybody was against him, and that the more that he would tell people what was happening, that we would respond in a way that didn't believe him, and he felt really alone and isolated.

I think that he was really experiencing hell on Earth.

>> NARRATOR: She said she tried repeatedly to get help from the military.

>> I, I was trying to learn how the whole system works, because I had no idea.

We were trying to figure out who the commanding officer was.

We tried calling the Saco base.

It was the weekend, and I pressed every single button.

I think there was, like, an option of five.

And I believe that I left a message for the military police.

"I am a sister of one of your unit members.

I have concerns and I need your help."

>> Not a single person called her back.

She couldn't find up-to-date information about where to turn.

No one informed her about the Army's psychological program to help her brother.

She was just left with nothing.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Two months after the sheriff's office and Army Reserve were alerted to Card's condition, his unit made its annual training trip to West Point.

Almost immediately, he tried to fight another reservist, then locked himself in his room.

>> Next morning, Card refuses to answer the door again.

Soldiers huddle up and they decide, "We got to get the police involved, because this is somebody who might be in crisis."

They call the New York State Police.

(phone vibrates) >> NARRATOR: Bodycam footage shows the state police arriving.

First Sergeant Mote and other reservists explained the situation to the troopers.

>> Our concern that, is that he's either going to hurt himself or someone... >> Okay.

>> He needs to be evaluated.

He needs to talk to a medical professional... >> He's, like, hearing voices.

Like, it's, like, paranoia to, like, the nth degree.

Like, it's weird, it's, it's really weird... >> The more concerning part is, he was never like this.

>> Never, and he's a, he's a gun nut, too.

He has a lot of guns.

He just spent 14 grand on a scope, too, so he's, like, he's got, I don't know.

I don't know what he's capable of.

I'm not insinuating anything, but I'm just saying he does have a ton of guns, so... >> Okay.

>> (talking softly) >> (knocking) Robert.

Robert, this is Trooper Katz with the State Police.

Can you open the door for me, please?

(knocking) Thank you, my man.

Do you want to throw a shirt on, I'll come in and talk to you... (switch clicks) So what's, what's going on, that your staff, like, is calling, concerned about you?

>> What's up?

>> What's going on that your staff is concerned about you, calling us?

>> Because I flipped out on someone messing around with me, and they're cowards and ran away, and... >> Okay.

>> I didn't do anything wrong.

I haven't been physical with anyone.

>> Yeah, no one's alleging that... >> Yeah, yeah, no.

>> So... >> That... Yeah.

>> What, what was it that caused the, the issue last night?

>> They keep saying (bleep) behind my back, I confront them, and they pretend like I'm hearing stuff... >> I mean, does it make sense that someone that you've been good friends with for over a decade would, would all of a sudden just start saying these things about you?

>> Yeah, well, it's happening everywhere, so, yeah.

It's making a lot of sense.

>> What do you mean by that?

What do you mean by that, it's happening everywhere?

>> At work-- I had to quit my job, go to a different place to try to leave it, and then it's there, as well, so... >> What, what were they saying at work?

>> Huh?

>> What kind of stuff were they talking (bleep) about at work?

>> I'm gay, I'm a pedophile.

I like little boys, I like little girls... >> The staff here is concerned about you, to the point that they have command directed you to talk with a counselor... >> All right.

>> So that would take place over at Keller at West Point... Are you willing to do that?

Would you be willing to... >> I have to, if it's command directive, obviously.

>> Okay-- okay, well, I mean, when I said... >> Is it going to help anything?

No.

I would rather have people stop talking and stop looking at me.

I'm a (bleep) private person that don't like (bleep) my (bleep) out there... >> I hope you understand that, that they're, they're concerned enough about your welfare that they called us.

>> Oh, because they're scared, because I'm going to friggin' do something.

Because I am capable.

>> Like, what do you mean by that?

>> Huh?

>> What do you mean by that?

>> Nothing-- no.

>> Okay.

All right, Robert, you're gonna, you're gonna go in this vehicle here.

>> Robert Card being taken to the hospital is a key moment in this story.

♪ ♪ It is the moment that so many people in his life have been waiting and hoping for.

>> NARRATOR: Card is taken to Keller Army Hospital, where he's diagnosed with unspecified psychosis.

He's transferred to Four Winds, a civilian hospital nearby, for a higher level of care.

>> Card undergoes testing at Four Winds Hospital, and the clinicians uncover some troubling things.

First and foremost, Card talks about having a hit list and he thinks about adding people that have aggrieved him to this hit list.

He's diagnosed with psychosis.

He is put on antipsychotic medication.

Card, meanwhile, is on the phone constantly with his best friend, Sean Hodgson, and he is talking about just how he's furious to be there.

And he uses the phrase "playing the game."

Basically, "I'm going to make these doctors think "that I'm doing better so they will let me out of the hospital."

>> NARRATOR: In closed testimony, a Four Winds psychiatrist told the state commission that Card had shown progress, agreed to take his medications and participate in therapy.

After 19 days, Card was deemed safe to be released.

He asked Sean Hodgson to pick him up.

>> And did Robert talk during that time?

>> Yes.

>> About what?

>> His stay at the hospital.

How he flipped up his mattress.

Um, punched it till his knuckles bled... Just reiterating stuff that he's already told me over the phone, just over and over again.

I tried to get him to talk about other stuff.

>> While Card was in the hospital, doctors were in contact with his mother.

The rest of the family now sees this as a really tragic moment, because Robert Card's mother has her own health problems, and she is really in no position to be the person who is going to be keeping track of or managing Robert's care.

>> Did he mention any obligation to take medications or follow up with a therapist?

>> Yes-- he was supposed to follow up with New York, telephone and video.

The medications he was still taking.

He took them, I'm guessing, a couple of weeks after, because he was complaining that it was slowing him down at work.

It was making him feel lazy... so he stopped taking them...

They didn't have a facility down here to give him counseling.

They were trying to do video chat with him, and he would pretty much tell them, he would answer the phone, tell them, "No, I'm not doing it," and hang up on them... Well, he was increasingly getting worse, and more and more angry every day.

>> NARRATOR: No one from Four Winds or Keller Army Hospital would agree to an interview.

But a Keller Hospital nurse testified he had told Army Reserve Captain Jeremy Reamer that Card was unfit for duty, and recommended they take steps to remove his weapons, check in regularly, and ensure he attended his appointments.

>> And was it your job to ensure that Card follow through with the mental health treatment that he had been ordered to comply with by the Army?

>> Was to supervise and to, and follow up with that, yes.

>> That was your job.

>> It was part of my job, yes.

>> Did you do that?

>> I personally did not follow up with him regarding that.

>> NARRATOR: Captain Reamer wouldn't agree to an interview, nor would anyone else in the Army.

But in their investigation, the Army acknowledged missteps in communication and follow-up, areas they said they have since improved.

But they also criticized police and medical personnel, and stressed that they only have limited authority over reservists.

>> As a Army reservist, after being released and, and in between battle assemblies... as everyone is essentially back to civilians, that I can't order someone to go to Sergeant Card's house and stay with them, with him...

Especially with certain things like firearms, having no jurisdiction or authority over his personally owned firearms.

>> NARRATOR: Instead, Captain Reamer testified he was in touch with Sean Hodgson, who was asking the family for help.

>> The plan was to have the family remove the weapons.

>> Explain the, the plan.

>> From my understanding, from speaking with Staff Sergeant Hodgson, he had coordinated, after speaking with Card in the hospital... my understanding was that the agreement, um, you know, that an agreement was made in that the family agreed to remove the weapons from, from the home.

>> But you're not sure who in the family.

>> I cannot recall exactly who.

>> What we know is that these guns were not secured upon Robert's release from the hospital.

It never ended up happening.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Two days after his discharge from Four Winds, Card tried to pick up a silencer for one of his guns.

But the store had to turn him away, because he checked a box on a federal form indicating he'd been committed to a hospital for mental illness.

>> It's not supposed to trigger any phone call to the local police, "Hey, this guy's not supposed to have guns."

All it is supposed to do is what it did, which was flag it for the gun seller and stop the sale.

And there's no check on whether you've got a stockpile of 20 guns back at your house... >> Mm-hmm.

>> ...as lots of people do here in Maine.

♪ ♪ >> This is a state where there's a high rate of gun ownership, and gun ownership is just sort of part of the background of Maine culture.

It comes from the hunting tradition that Maine has.

There's also a high rate of service in the military by people in Maine.

So when it comes to thinking about separating a person from their guns, that is not the go-to idea for a law enforcement officer in Maine.

>> And so if you're a deputy who has spent 20 years patrolling those areas, your first inclination is not to be, like, "We need to remove all of his weapons from his house."

It's, "Okay, well, let's talk to his family, and see if we can solve things that way, let's start there."

>> NARRATOR: By September, Card was increasingly isolated, having pushed away most of his family and friends, with the exception of Sean Hodgson.

>> On a weeknight in mid-September, Card and Hodgson go to the casino, have a nice evening, according to Hodgson.

But then, on the ride back, Card starts up with his usual routine.

>> He started flipping out, punching the steering wheel.

He was saying that they ruined his life.

Reiterated what they were calling him.

Just flipping out-- some of the stuff I couldn't make out, it was so loud.

I was worried that he was going to kill us in the car.

He was driving erratically, and I thought for sure we were going to end up wrapped around a tree.

I begged him to pull over, let me drive.

He didn't listen.

Told me to "shut the f up, shut the f up, do not say another word."

He punched me in the face.

I was very hurt that he wanted to push me away.

He was all done with me, that's pretty much what he said.

♪ ♪ I wouldn't even let him drive me all the way back home, because if he decided to snap then, there's really no protection for me there.

It's not in plain view of the public.

That's why I had him drop me off at the gas station.

But when I got out of the vehicle, I reiterated, I was, like, "Hey, just so you know, I love you.

I'll always be there for you.

I'll never give up on you..." He had that blank stare on his face.

He wouldn't even look at me when I was talking to him... And, um, he slowly drove away.

>> And it's essentially the end of their relationship.

Hodgson, the last real anchor to Card's old life, is no longer in the picture.

And this was about five, six weeks before the shooting in Lewiston.

A couple of days later, just after 2:00 a.m., he texts both Reamer and Mote.

>> "You up?

I have something to report.

"Change the passcode to the unit gate "and be armed if Sergeant First Class Card does arrive.

"Please, I believe he's messed up in the head, "and threatened the unit and other places.

"I love him to death, but I do not know how to help him, "and he refuses to get help.

"And yes, he still has all his weapons.

I believe he's going to snap and do a mass shooting."

I left it up to them to decide what the best course of action is.

I personally did not want to see Robert Card in trouble.

I just wanted him to get help.

>> The fact that it comes from Sean Hodgson is causing the Army Reserve to be a little bit skeptical.

Sean is kind of constantly calling Mote, early hours in the morning, waking him up.

People's wives are getting annoyed about this, to, to talk, to vent, whatever.

Sometimes he's been drinking.

And so when this text comes in at 2:00 a.m., is it an urgent problem that we have to address, or is it the late night rantings of an unreliable reservist?

>> You have to-- what is that old saying, take it with a grain of salt sometimes?

But my belief was not, my belief was that this was a credible threat, and that he was not only capable of carrying out this threat, but he conveyed it to Hodgson, and it's, it's in line with everything else that had happened since July.

>> Mote writes an email detailing the unit's interactions with Robert Card over the last several months.

Mote talks about his stay in the hospital.

It talks about his erratic behavior and about the recent warnings from Hodgson.

Mote says, months after the shooting, that his intention here was to help the local police enact the state's yellow flag law.

But there's no mention of yellow flag in the email.

>> NARRATOR: That letter would end up at the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office, along with a request for a welfare check on Card.

Sergeant Aaron Skolfield responded to the request.

>> So the first call that we received was on September 15.

That was a Friday afternoon.

I was actually covering for another deputy who was on vacation.

(on radio): I'm going to be going to (bleep) Road to do a welfare check on Robert Card.

C-A-R-D. >> Okay.

>> And he's flagged in house.

Known to be armed and dangerous.

Blah, blah, blah.

>> All right.

>> I went and checked on this mobile home.

(on radio): No vehicles in the driveway, he's not home.

Can you, uh, leave the screen open?

I'm going to type about it.

>> 10-4.

>> NARRATOR: The sheriff's office issued an alert to law enforcement in the hope of getting an in-person sighting of Card.

>> I had done everything that was appropriate for that shift and put it out there for other law enforcement to be aware.

September 16, again, there's only two of us on for the whole county.

I drove by Mr. Card's house, and at that time, I was able to see his white Subaru in the driveway, leading me to believe that he's probably home now.

And I opted to have another unit come back me up.

Knocked on the door.

Announced, "Come on, Mr. Card.

"Robert, we just need to talk to you.

I just need to check, check on you."

You know, if he was there, fairly certain he knew that we were out there and just wouldn't answer the door.

>> NARRATOR: At this point, Skolfield says he felt his hands were tied.

He says he was never told the Army wanted to initiate a yellow flag process, and he didn't feel he had enough yet to go that route.

>> I mean, he hasn't committed a crime in Sagadahoc County here.

There are no arrest warrants out for him.

I can't just walk in his house.

Had I done that, that creates a whole host of issues that would get me in trouble.

(murmurs) >> NARRATOR: Skolfield then made several calls looking for more information, including one to Captain Reamer.

>> So he doesn't have anything at the house... >> In terms of all the weapons, this is kind of how it went down, as far as I know.

There was no real court order to take his weapons or anything like that...

I was told his weapons had been moved out into a family member's place.

>> Okay.

>> Whether he has access to those at the family member's, I don't know, but that's what, as far as I know, any weapons he had were supposed to be moved by his friend, Hodgson, who kind of started this whole thing, and then his, his brother Ryan Card...

I did speak with him yesterday.

Card... stated that, you know, he wasn't going to come to drill.

And I was, like, "Okay, that's, that's fine."

He, he sounded angry.

Definitely angry at people, but made no specific threats, like, "I'm going to come there and shoot if no one does..." You know, nothing like that... And I just talked with my battalion commander and sergeant major...

They were, like, as long as you can kind of, if you're out there, he's, he's there, he can be uncooperative or whatever.

But there's no sense in you guys pushing in and... (audio cuts out) ...the guy.

We just wanted to check well-being, if you can kind of tell he's there and alive, just kind of document it... >> All right, well, this just kind of sucks.

(chuckles): I appreciate you calling me back.

And it gives me some answers and a little bit to work with.

>> During that conversation, Reamer seems to downplay the importance of actually confronting Card.

And one thing that he does not discuss is just how imperative Card's own doctors believed it was that he not be allowed to be around weapons.

The urgency is not there.

And that's the point that Skolfield has made over and over in the months since the shooting.

>> I took their word that we can kind of let things simmer off a bit.

I backed away-- at this point, I'm kind of thinking it's kind of resolved.

They don't need this welfare check anymore.

>> NARRATOR: Skolfield still wanted to verify that Card's guns had been secured.

He learned that the family hadn't yet done so, but was told they would try.

The next day, he left for vacation.

>> So September is when my dad went over to attempt to get his guns.

And Robbie kicked him off his property.

He says he got mad and told him to get off his property, just go.

>> NARRATOR: In the end, the guns were never removed.

>> In the lens of hindsight, yes, I absolutely would have done things differently had I known what was going to happen in October.

There wasn't anybody around that wouldn't.

The law had a, a chink in its armor.

It didn't allow me to go in and grab him without, without breaking some law myself.

>> This wasn't one breakdown.

This was a series of mistakes.

A series of laws that were written in just such a way that it made it difficult to put them into use.

A series of conversations that didn't happen or didn't happen in the way that they needed to.

And all of these put together put us on the track to Lewiston, and allowed one really dangerous person to slip through the cracks and hurt a lot of people.

♪ ♪ >> (mouthing) >> Our brother Steven has gone to his rest in the peace of Christ.

>> (mouthing) >> May the Lord now welcome him to the table of God's children in heaven.

>> (mouthing) >> ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ For the hands that hold you now ♪ >> (mouthing) >> (crying) (crying) >> (mouthing) ♪ ♪ (people talking in background) >> NARRATOR: In August 2024, the state commission issued its final report.

>> The commission unanimously finds that there were several opportunities that, if taken, might have changed the course of these tragic events.

>> NARRATOR: It came down particularly hard on Sergeant Skolfield and his decision not to invoke the yellow flag law.

>> The Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office had sufficient probable cause to take Card into protective custody under Maine's yellow flag law.

>> NARRATOR: A conclusion Skolfield and his department's leadership continue to dispute.

>> Skolfield still to this day believes that he essentially did the right thing, did the job to the best of his ability with the information that he knew.

I think in his view, he wasn't given the information he needed to make an informed decision.

He wasn't given the legal tools that he would have needed.

>> He felt that he was scapegoated, unfairly criticized more heavily than others, and he has threatened to, to sue the commission and to sue the governor for defamation as a result of all of that.

>> NARRATOR: The report also faulted members of the Army Reserve.

>> The commission finds that the leaders of his Army Reserve unit failed to exercise their authority over him.

>> They bring the hammer down hard on the Army, as we had a feeling that they would be critical of the Army commanders in this report, based on the way they handled those public hearings.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Card's supervisors were blamed for not staying engaged with his follow-up care, and not ensuring that his weapons were taken away.

Captain Reamer is no longer leading Card's Reserve unit.

He testified his time had come to cycle out of the position.

The Army has disciplined three Reserve officers for dereliction of duty, but would not identify who they are.

Despite singling out the Army Reserve and law enforcement... >> This reflected the facts... >> NARRATOR: ...the commission largely did not critique the roles of the hospitals or mental healthcare providers, or any larger institutional or legal breakdowns.

>> You found that the hospital took the appropriate steps, or were there alternative systemic failures here?

>> We set forth the facts that we determined them to be, and they're in the report.

And that's, I'll let the report speak for itself.

>> NARRATOR: In an interview, the commission chair continued to defend the focus of the report.

>> Do you think that you were as hard on Four Winds as you were on some other failings, in terms of law enforcement and the Army Reserve?

>> Well, I think we reported the facts in all instances, and there wasn't an effort to blame or to punish anyone.

And we had no authority to discipline, to recommend anything, uh, or to draw any, to draw any recommendations from it.

Our authority was strictly to find the facts, and we did.

>> NARRATOR: Maine's governor, Janet Mills, who convened the commission, stood by the report's conclusions.

>> Well, I think the commission addresses the shortcomings in the particular law enforcement person who was, people who were involved in responding to Mr. Card's danger signals.

And that's sad.

That is a tragic neglect on their part, not understanding, not implementing the law on the books.

>> Reamer and Skolfield are arguably cogs in a bigger machine.

Why are they singled out, when, in many instances, they were part of a larger system?

>> Well, I think the, the report, the commission, which I think worked very diligently and professionally, looked at every aspect of what was known, who knew it, when they knew it, whether the information was shared or not shared.

And whether you talk about systems, I mean, I can't say whether there were systems failures.

There were individual failures, and that's what the commission observed.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Since the shooting, there have been calls for a stronger red flag gun law, like in other states.

The governor has resisted that, but signed new legislation to change the existing yellow flag law.

>> These, these changes are designed to give them a little more latitude to take somebody into protective custody.

But there hasn't been a wholesale reassessment of Maine's gun culture, its policy towards firearms.

It's almost as if Lewiston didn't change those things.

There were enough individual failures or missteps or choices that's allowed people to assign blame to individuals, as opposed to evaluating whether the system or culture that we're operating under is keeping us safe.

And I feel like that's human nature.

Once you've found somebody to blame, you just, you sort of... And that's it.

>> NARRATOR: The day the commission's report was released, families of the victims held their own press conference.

>> (interpreted): The healing process is complex.

We've gone through a lot of, of broken pieces.

It's like we're walking through the shards one step at a time, one day at a time.

>> From our perspective, as the attorneys representing the families affected by this mass shooting, it's really quite simple.

The diagnosed psychoses plus possession of numerous assault weapons requires action.

>> And now comes the time for accountability.

And that accountability is important to ensure that something like this never happens again in this community or anywhere else.

>> NARRATOR: The families now say they intend to sue the Department of Defense, the Army, and Keller Hospital.

♪ ♪ Robert Card's family is also searching for accountability and answers.

They've pointed to his years as a grenade trainer in the Army, and injuries to his brain discovered by Boston University's special CTE Center.

Dr. Ann McKee runs the center.

>> In Mr. Card's brain, what we saw was interface astrogliosis, which is a, a type of scarring, an inflammation of the brain that has been found after blast injury, but also has been found in contact sport athletes.

What we knew from the clinicians who went back and talked to the family was that he had been exposed to grenade explosions repetitively.

So, knowing that he had a very substantial exposure to these grenade explosions, we thought it was most likely that his traumatic brain injury was, was secondary to that exposure.

>> NARRATOR: The army, however, offered a different theory.

It said Card had only sustained relatively minor exposure to blasts and it suggested his brain injury could have been related to a fall from a roof in 2008 in which he broke his neck.

>> So we've never seen the type of brain injury, the brain damage, that we found in Robert Card after a single event such as a fall, a single fall.

Now, could that single injury have made the other injury worse?

It, it's possible that it added to it, but as a single event, it doesn't explain the changes we found under the microscope.

>> NARRATOR: Nevertheless, Dr. McKee said it's impossible to know the role of the brain injury in Card's rampage.

>> Everybody wants A to cause B, right?

It's just too simple.

When you say, "Did that brain injury cause him to kill 18 people?"

Well, I can't say that.

You know, you can't.

It probably contributed to the story.

But how much it contributed, that I don't know.

>> PSOs, paint targets.

(firing rapidly) >> We need to learn more about exposures in the military, not just in combat, but in training and exercises.

These are injuries that we haven't paid attention to for hundreds of years.

And now we're learning they can have disastrous effects.

(fires) >> NARRATOR: After Dr. McKee's findings were made public, the Pentagon announced they were issuing new guidelines on blast exposure, and said they were expanding cognitive testing to monitor service members' brain health.

>> What I found interesting about this family is that... (voiceover): I want to make sure that there's accountability.

I want to see that happen.

And my question is, what the hell are we going to do for the people that have traumatic brain injuries today?

What are we going to do for their families who are experiencing it today?

They need to show that they're making these changes, and it needs to be transparent to the families who've been affected by brain injuries.

♪ ♪ (people talking in background) >> Hello, welcome.

Can I offer you some tissues?

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> You're welcome-- I have plenty, would you like more?

>> No, thank you, though.

>> I'm good.

>> How about a teddy bear?

>> Sure.

>> Today's important because it's the one-year anniversary since the shootings happened.

I think it's a chance to show that the community, um, still is in, processing grief.

But they are moving forward and standing up with each other.

>> We come together to reflect on the horror we experienced that night, to pay respect to the 18 lives taken from us.

We honor their spirit, their legacy, and remember the impact they had and continue to have on our lives today.

♪ ♪ >> It took me a couple of times to get used of the gunshot.

I never knew how to use one before.

(fires) >> Good job.

>> I'm focused on how far away Robert Card was from our table.

So I'm kind of learning the, the distance to try to shoot that far away.

(gun fires) At least a minimum of 20 feet.

(fires) I carry it most of the time.

I always feel safer now with, with the gun.

>> Healing happens when we cry with each other during times of loss.

>> The people who survived the shootings, they do not speak with one voice around gun legislation.

So, a lot of them are, are saying what we need is more mental health treatment.

>> If you lost a loved one on October 25, please stand and be recognized... >> Robert Card is still ultimately the person who's responsible for the ripple of tragedy through this community.

With all the shortcomings of the people who didn't take action or who miscommunicated their action, it ended up being left to the people who were at those two scenes... >> Michael Deslauriers.

>> ...at Schemengees and at the bowling alley... >> Jason Walker.

>> ...the courage that those people displayed in the most horrific moments... >> Joshua Seal.

>> ...are just remarkable.

(voice trembles): And it's something you'll never forget.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATION: Go to pbs.org/frontline for more reporting from our partners at the Portland Press Herald and to hear Breakdown, our podcast with Maine Public Radio.

>> Over the past year, my colleagues and I listened to hours of emotional testimony, >> I still get up every morning thinking of my son.

>> People were like, Oh, thank God it’s over.

And I thought to myself, it is not over.

>> NARRATION: Connect with FRONTLINE on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

And stream anytime on the PBS app, YouTube, or pbs.org/frontline.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org >> For more on this and other "FRONTLINE" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.

♪ ♪ FRONTLINE's "Breakdown in Maine" is available on Amazon Prime Video.

♪ ♪