One survivor of the Maine massacre described being shot five times by bowling alley gunman Robert Card, while others criticized the government for “failure” to prevent it.
Ben Dyer, who was shot five times, said “the system failed everyone here,” while Tammy Asselin described freezing when she heard gunshots before being separated from her daughter during the deadliest shooting in state history.
‘We’ve all been through hell. We’re still living this,” Dyer told the commission Monday, gesturing with two hands, one of which was missing the index finger lost in the shooting.
Meanwhile, Asselin had a message forra lawmakers dealing with legislation in the wake of the Oct. 25 shooting, telling them to “put aside their partisan lines and try to approach this like a parent with simple common sense would.”
‘Enough is enough. It really makes me angry knowing that we came so close to avoiding this but we failed,” she said.
Police, family and the military knew that Army reservist Card, 40, was suffering from declining mental health before the shooting that left 18 dead at a bowling alley, bar and restaurant in Lewiston.
Tammy Asselin described how she froze when she heard gunshots before being separated from her daughter during the deadliest shooting in state history.
A survivor of the Maine massacre last year described being shot five times by bowling alley gunman Robert Card (pictured).
The Lewiston, Maine massacre left 18 dead on October 25, 2023
Card’s body was found two days later, dead from a self-inflicted wound.
An independent commission, established by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, is reviewing the facts surrounding the shootings, including the police response.
Like those who spoke at an earlier hearing last month, victims and their families questioned Monday why authorities did not take Card’s guns away, given the warning signs he showed before the deadly attack.
Asselin’s 11-year-old daughter Toni briefly joined her in front of commission members.
“I thought it was important for me to show the face of a child who was there that night,” he told stewards.
Mike Roderick, who was playing cornhole with his 18-year-old son when the gunfire erupted, described the horror of being separated from his son and his decision to turn off the lights at the Schemengees Bar & Grille restaurant when he found himself hiding in a closet. public services.
Both survived and authorities took credit for saving lives by turning off the lights.
‘My only hope is that we can prevent others from having to suffer the nightmares and trauma that will plague us for the rest of our lives.
“We hope that this commission can determine who and where we dropped the ball and make sure that we learn from these horrible, tragic mistakes and share that information to teach others how to prevent this nightmare from happening again,” Roderick said.
The meeting was held at Lewiston City Hall, less than three miles (4.8 kilometers) from the two locations where the shootings took place.
The victims described a fun afternoon playing cornball or bowling before hearing loud pops.
They described freezing or running away. Some of them described crawling on the ground to escape.
Shooting survivor Danielle Grondin hugs fellow shooting survivor Tammy Asselin, wearing a ‘Lewiston Strong’ T-shirt, before a public meeting with a commission investigating the October 2023 shootings, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Lewiston, Maine.
Some people put their heads in their hands and cried at a vigil for the dead.
Army reservist Robert Card, 40, killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in the shooting.
Police, family and the military knew Army reservist Card (pictured) was suffering from declining mental health before the shooting that left 18 dead at a bowling alley, bar and restaurant in Lewiston.
One described being shot in the arm and said it felt like an “explosion.” Another survivor mentioned the gunman’s laser sight: “Wherever that green dot went, a bullet went.”
Some of the victims were from Maine’s deaf community, including Steven Kretlow, who described being shot and diving under a table to pretend he was dead.
Kretlow and other members of the deaf community have said they found it difficult to receive services after the shootings.
Robert Card, 40, seen here in a photo courtesy of the Lewiston Police Department.
He stressed that he needed an interpreter when he was in the hospital and that not having one only magnified the trauma of the experience.
The commission is expected to produce a full report on the shootings and an interim report is expected to be issued by April 1, followed by a final report. Commission members said survivors’ testimony was critical.
“We can all say that we have taken a step to ensure that this does not happen again,” said Daniel Wathen, president of the commission.
Relatives of Card, 40, of Bowdoin, warned police that he was exhibiting paranoid behavior and were concerned about his access to weapons.
He was hospitalized for two weeks in July after pushing a fellow reservist and locking himself in a motel room during training.
Then in September, a fellow reservist told an Army superior that he was worried Card was going to “break out and do a mass shooting.”
The commission is scheduled to hold another hearing Thursday in Augusta to hear from members of the U.S. Army Reserves. The hearing with Army officials will be the seventh held by the commission and is the last hearing currently scheduled.
In previous hearings, law enforcement officials defended the approach they took with Card in the months before the shootings.
Members of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office testified that the state’s yellow flag law makes it difficult to take guns away from a potentially dangerous person.
Shooting survivor Mike Roderick returns to his seat after addressing a public meeting with a commission investigating the October 2023 shootings, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Lewiston, Maine.
Shooting survivor Ben Dyer, center, turns and addresses a fellow shooting survivor during a public meeting with a commission investigating the October 2023 shootings, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Lewiston, Maine . Dyer, in his speech to the commission, stated that he was a survivor of the shooting, but a victim of failed early warnings and problems with shooter Robert Card.
Photos of Aaron Young and his father, William Young, are shown at a vigil for the victims of Wednesday’s mass shootings at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Sunday.
DelawareMaine Democrats are looking to make changes to the state’s gun laws in the wake of the shootings. Mills wants to change state law to allow authorities to seek a protective custody order to detain a dangerous person and remove their weapons.
Other Democrats in Maine have proposed a 72-hour waiting period for most gun purchases. The proposals will likely lead to intense debate in Maine, where gun ownership is higher than in most of the Northeast.