Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine pressed a top Army general this week about the timing of an internal report on last October's mass shooting in Lewiston only to be told, again, that the investigation should be done in a "couple" more weeks.
Soon after the mass shooting, Collins began working on legislation that would require military officials to contact local police if a service member poses a threat to themselves or others. Police could then potentially employ state red flag or yellow flag laws to temporarily confiscate the person's guns.
But Collins reiterated again on Tuesday during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that she first wants to read an Army report on how the Reserves responded to 1st Sgt. Robert Card's deteriorating mental health. The Reserves had restricted Card's access to military weapons more than two months before he killed 18 people in Lewiston. But Reserve officials have largely blamed local police in Maine for not doing more to seize his personal weapons.
In May, the Army's top civilian official, Secretary Christine Wormuth, told Collins the report would be done in "a couple more weeks."
Nearly a month later, Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels had similar comments when pressed by Collins on Tuesday.
"The report, from my side, has been signed in late May," Daniels said. "We are working on redacting that and making that available in the next couple of weeks. And I look forward to coming and briefing your team on what we found as part of that report."
Collins, who is the top-ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, responded by telling Daniels that "I'm going to hold you to that 'next couple of weeks' because I've heard that phrase a number of times."
The Army's inspector general is also working on a separate, independent investigation into the Reserve's handling of Card's mental health. Collins and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine had requested the separate review.
Leaders of Card's Saco-based Reserve unit did ask the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office to conduct a welfare check on him in September after a fellow reservist said he was worried Card might commit a mass shooting. But Reserve leaders did not explicitly ask police to employ Maine's yellow flag law, which would allow them to seek a court order to confiscate his guns if both a medical professional and a judge agree he posed a threat.
The responding deputy knocked on Card's door in Bowdoin but he did not answer. In testimony to the special commission investigating the shooting, Sgt. Aaron Skolfield said Reserve leaders raised doubts about the reliability of the warnings from Card's friend and fellow reservist and recommended that he back off to give Card space. At the same time, Skolfield said Card's brother assured him that the family would work to remove any guns from the home.
Earlier this week, the commanding officer of Card's unit told the commission that he had no authority to attempt to seize his personal guns and that Reserve leaders have much less ability than their active-duty counterparts to force volunteer members to follow through with mental health treatment.
"I don't know anyone that downplayed the threat that he posed," Lt. Col Ryan Vasquez told a commissioner when asked if Reserve leaders sent mixed messages about the seriousness of Card's alleged threats against others. "Anyone who would say that would probably have something very similar to the police that went and knocked on his door, didn't get an answer and then left."
