AUGUSTA, Maine — A U.S. Army reservist who sounded the clearest warning forward of Maine’s deadliest mass taking pictures is anticipated to reply questions Thursday from the fee investigating the tragedy.
Six weeks earlier than Robert Card killed 18 folks at a bar and bowling alley in Lewiston, his finest good friend and fellow reservist Sean Hodgson texted their supervisors, telling them to vary the passcode to the gate at their Army Reserve coaching facility and arm themselves if Card confirmed up.
“I consider he’s going to snap and do a mass taking pictures,” Hodgson wrote on Sept. 15.
That message got here months after kin had warned police that Card had grown paranoid and mentioned they had been involved about his entry to weapons. The failure of authorities to take away weapons from Card’s possession within the weeks earlier than the taking pictures has develop into the topic of a monthslong investigation within the state, which additionally has handed new gun security legal guidelines for the reason that tragedy.
Card additionally was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital for 2 weeks in July, and the Army barred him from having weapons whereas on responsibility. However except for briefly staking out the reserve heart and visiting Card’s residence, authorities declined to confront him. He was discovered useless of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after the shootings.
In an interim report launched final month, the unbiased fee launched by Gov. Jane Mills concluded that the Sagadahoc County sheriff’s workplace had possible trigger underneath Maine’s “yellow flag” regulation to take Card into custody and seize his weapons. It additionally criticized police for not following up with Hodgson about his warning textual content.
On Thursday, the fee plans to listen to from the state’s director of sufferer witnesses providers. Hodgson advised The Related Press he’s scheduled to be questioned Thursday morning.
In an unique collection of interviews in January, Hodgson advised The AP he met Card within the Army Reserve in 2006 and that they turned shut mates after each divorced their spouses across the identical time. They lived collectively for a couple of month in 2022, and when Card was hospitalized in New York in July, Hodgson drove him again to Maine.
Rising more and more apprehensive about his good friend’s psychological well being, Hodgson warned authorities after an incident by which Card began “flipping out” after an evening of playing, pounding the steering wheel and almost crashing a number of instances. After ignoring his pleas to drag over, Card punched him within the face, Hodgson mentioned.
“It took me rather a lot to report someone I like,” he mentioned. “However when the hair begins standing up on the again of your neck, it’s important to hear.”
Some officers downplayed Hodgson’s warning, suggesting he may need been drunk due to the late hour of his textual content. Army Reserve Capt. Jeremy Reamer described him as “not probably the most credible of our troopers” and mentioned his message ought to be taken “with a grain of salt.”
Hodgson mentioned he struggles with post-traumatic stress dysfunction and alcohol habit however mentioned he wasn’t consuming that evening and was awake as a result of he works nights and was ready for his boss to name.
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