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,
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“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:
The videos from July 2023, released Tuesday to USA TODAY, document the police response after members of Card's unit called for assistance.
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