Mass Shooting Victims Sue US Government for Negligence

Survivors of Maine's deadliest mass shooting and relatives of victims are suing the federal government, alleging that the US Army could and should have stopped one of its reservists from carrying out what they call "one of the most preventable mass tragedies in American history," per the AP. Eighteen people were killed in October 2023 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 officials and civilian law enforcement as Card's mental health deteriorated. He was found dead by suicide two days after the shootings.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of more than 100 survivors and victims' family members, accuses the US government of negligence, saying its conduct "directly and proximately caused the mass shooting." The suit claims that, months before the shooting, the government "knew Card was paranoid, delusional, violent, and lacked impulse control," while the Army "knew he had access to firearms" and "promised to remove his guns but did not fulfill that promise." It also accuses the Army of withholding information and actively misleading local law enforcement, "preventing others from intervening and separating Card from his weapons."

Card was hospitalized by the Army during training in July 2023 in New York, where his unit was training West Point cadets, but Army Reserve officials 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." The lawsuit claims "the Army disregarded its mandatory policies and procedures, and regulations when dealing with Card," with serious issues "not reported up the chain of command ... resulting in disastrous consequences." Attorneys plan to provide more details Wednesday at a news conference in Lewiston, not far from where the shootings took place.