Lewiston survivors say system that led to the state’s worst mass shooting ‘needs to be fixed’

“I’m a victim of the people who dropped the ball,” Jason Barnett, who was among the survivors of the Oct. 25 mass shootings, told the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston at a meeting Monday. 

Barnett and others said they want to make sure such a mass tragedy never happens in Maine again and so are asking the commission for accountability and action to address the shortcomings that led to the state’s deadliest mass shooting.

More than a dozen people shared their memories of that day, the scars they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, and the failures that still haunt them. Many of them said they were upset to hear there were warnings about the perpetrator Robert Card, who killed 18 people and injured 13 more when he opened fire at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille. 

Multiple survivors said law enforcement should have been able to better protect them from Card, given they were aware of threats he had made amid growing concern over his mental health. They are looking to the commission to find out exactly where the ball had been dropped. 

“Today I speak to you in hopes that you will find the answers for all of us. Give us clarity and give us accountability,” said Andrew Chessie, who said Schemengees was like a second home to him, often going multiple nights a week. “Most of all, I hope and pray that this commission will gather enough information from all of our testimonies that will fix our system in a way that can prevent this senseless act from happening again.”

In previous commission meetings, representatives from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department said in May 2023 they were first made aware of concerns over Card’s mental health, which they reported to the Army Reserves in Saco, the 3rd Battalion 304 Training Group, of which he was a member. Maine State Police told the commission it wasn’t aware of any flags until after the shooting.

“The system needs to be fixed,” said Ben Dyer, who was shot five times, speaking to the state’s need for better mental health care access. Others echoed his plea. 

What Maine lawmakers are proposing to do about guns

Legislative Democrats are making efforts to try to prevent future tragedies like this by putting forth four gun-related bills that will be heard by the Judiciary Committee this week. 

Two of the bills, LD 2086 and LD 2119, will be heard on Tuesday. The first of those two seeks to address when guns forfeited to the state are required to be destroyed. The other bill would allow for a person’s right to purchase or receive a firearm to be waived to prevent suicides. 

On Thursday, the committee will hear a bill (LD 2238) that would require a 72-hour waiting period between when a gun is purchased and when the buyer can pick it up. 

“I know we have our work cut out for us, but the way forward is to honor the dead and fight like hell for the living. It’s what we owe to those we lost, those who survived that nightmare and those whose lives will never be the same,” said Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) during a press conference last week on the gun reform package.

There will also be a public hearing that day on the multipronged legislation that Gov. Janet Mills first announced during her annual State of the State address. Mills hopes the bill will improve violence prevention, strengthen mental health services and keep weapons out of the hands of people who should not have them.

Specifically, the bill seeks to strengthen Maine’s yellow flag law, which is the state’s current mechanism to temporarily confiscate firearms from someone who is deemed to be a danger to themself or others. It would also require background checks for private sales of firearms and make it easier to prosecute anyone who sells a gun to someone not allowed to have one.