AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – Robert Card, the Army reservist who shot and killed 18 people in Maine last year, had significant signs of traumatic brain injury, according to a brain tissue analysis by Boston University researchers released Wednesday. There was evidence.
There was degeneration, inflammation, and damage to small blood vessels in the nerve fibers that allow communication between different areas of the brain, said Dr. Anne McKee of the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center. This analysis was presented by Card's family.
Mr Card was an instructor at an Army grenade training range, where he is believed to have been exposed to thousands of low-level explosions.
“While we cannot be certain that these pathological findings underlie Mr. Card's behavioral changes during the first 10 months of his life, based on previous research, we believe that the brain injury may have influenced his symptoms. McKee said in a statement from his family. .
Card's family also apologized for the attack in a statement, saying their hearts ached for the victims, survivors and their loved ones.
Army officials are scheduled to testify Thursday before a special committee investigating the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history.
The committee is Founded by Democratic Governor Janet Millsexamines the facts surrounding the October 25 shooting that killed 18 people at a bowling alley, restaurant and bar in Lewiston. The commission, which includes former judges and prosecutors, is also considering police responses to shootings.
Both the police and army say the gunman's card is suffering from deteriorating mental health In the months leading up to the shooting.
Some of Card's relatives, 40, alerted police that he was exhibiting paranoid behavior and were concerned that he had a gun.body camera video Police interview with reservists Even before Card was hospitalized for two weeks in upstate New York last summer, fellow reservists were shown to have expressed concern and alarm about his behavior and weight loss.
Card was hospitalized in July after he shoved a fellow reservist during a training exercise and locked himself in a motel room. Then, in September, his reservist comrades told Army superiors that they feared Card would “suddenly cause a mass shooting.”
Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the largest manhunt in state history. Victims' families, politicians and gun control advocates said law enforcement missed several opportunities to intervene and remove the guns from the cards in the months after the shootings. They also raise questions about the state's mental health system.
Thursday's hearing in Augusta is the seventh and final hearing currently scheduled before the commission. Commission Chairman Daniel Wasen said at a hearing with victims earlier this week that an interim report could be released by April 1.
In interviews with victims, Wasen said the commission's hearings were critical to solving the case.
“This has been an incredible tragedy for all of you,” Wasen said during Monday's hearing. “But I think it affected everyone in Maine and beyond.”
In previous hearings, law enforcement officials have defended their approach to the card company in the months before the shooting. Members of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office testified: state yellow flag law It makes it difficult to pull a gun from a potentially dangerous person.
Maine Democrats are considering reforming the state's gun laws in the wake of mass shootings.Mills wants to change state law Allows law enforcement to apply directly to a judge for a warrant of protective custody to detain and remove weapons from a dangerous person.
Other Democrats in Maine include: suggested a 72-hour waiting period Applies to most gun purchases. Gun control advocates held a gun safety rally in Augusta earlier this week.
“Gun violence represents a major public health emergency. By combining meaningful gun safety reforms with public health investments, we can keep our communities as safe as possible.” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.
___
Whittle reported from Portland.
