The commission investigating the Lewiston mass shooting will hold two virtual public hearings on Thursday to learn more about the medical treatment Robert Card received in New York last summer after he tried to assault a fellow soldier.
The group had previously announced it would question an Army nurse practitioner who worked at Kelly Army Hospital in New York, where Card was taken for evaluation last July after his fellow soldiers became concerned about his paranoid and aggressive behavior. That meeting will be held via Zoom at 5 p.m. because the witness, whose name has not been released, is in a different time zone.
After a last minute schedule change, the commission will also interview a "civilian medical professional" contracted with the U.S. Army at 1 p.m. It is unclear whether the provider, who received a subpoena to appear before the commission, worked at Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital, where Card was committed for two weeks last summer after being transferred from Keller.
The public will be able to attend both hearings on Zoom.
Though several previous hearings have detailed attempts to address Card's declining mental health at key moments in May, July and September, it remains unclear exactly what happened during Card's hospitalization in New York last summer.
Both his Army commanders and family members told the commission they were surprised last August when they learned he was being released from Four Winds after just two weeks, and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office only found out about his commitment a month later — after Card threatened to attack the Army base in Saco.
Questions asked by members of the commission suggest that they have received at least some of Card's medical records. But the only records released to the public have been so heavily redacted that they are unreadable, and administrators for Four Winds have not responded to several messages asking to discuss Card or the hospital's involuntary commitment policies more generally.
Even Card's family members have said they have had limited access to his medical records and don't know much about his treatment last August.
Card had only just arrived to his Army unit's annual training mission in New York on July 15 when his strange behavior caught the attention of his colleagues, according to the testimony of several members of the Army Reserve.
During a quick run for beer and pizza, Card came to believe that his friend Daryl Reed was insulting him, even though Reed was sitting in complete silence, Reed told the commission in April. A few minutes later, Card tried to punch him.
At least one of the unit's commanders initially suspected that Card's aggression was tied to alcohol use, even though others had noticed him acting strangely for months, police had already told the Army that Card's family was troubled by his paranoia and there was no evidence he had been drinking excessively that night. But after he refused to come out of his room at the barracks the morning after his confrontation with Reed, Card's commanders called New York State Police to perform a welfare check.
Those troopers said they didn't have enough probable cause to take Card into protective custody, body camera footage of the visit shows, but they agreed to escort members of the unit to the hospital after Card acceded to his commanders order that he submit to an evaluation. At least one doctor told Capt. Jeremy Reamer that Card was suffering from psychosis and that it was a good thing the Army had brought Card in to the hospital, according to documents discussed openly by the commission.
But once Card was transferred to Four Winds, a civilian hospital, it became difficult for either the Army or Card's family members to get details about his treatment, members of both groups told the commission. According to Card's sister Nicole Herling, their mother was the hospital's main point of contact, but due to her own medical conditions, she was not fit to convey how concerned the rest of the family was about Card's declining mental health.
Upon Card's release from the hospital, it was immediately apparent to his friend Sean Hodgson and his family members that his condition had not changed.
According to paperwork referenced by the commission, members of the Army's medical wing told Reamer to make sure Card stay on top of his treatment plan and submit to a medical board evaluation process that could have resulted in his discharge. Reamer was also told to take steps to remove Card's personal guns from his home.
Reamer said he did not take any of these steps, even after he was copied on several emails saying Card was not cooperating with his treatment. Reamer blamed this partly on a technical problem that left him unable to access his email for parts of last summer, but he has also remained adamant that he had little-to-no authority over his soldiers except during drill weekends and the unit's annual summer training.
This story is part of an ongoing collaboration with FRONTLINE ( PBS) and Maine Public that includes an upcoming documentary. It is supported through FRONTLINE's Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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