The Deepening Tragedy of the Maine Massacre

The national outcry after mass shootings always includes calls to keep guns away from dangerously troubled people. That possibility existed ahead of the devastating violence in Lewiston, Maine, as much as with any case in recent memory.

Army reservist Robert Card, the 40-year-old suicidal perpetrator who killed 18 people and injured 13 others at a bowling alley and a bar on October 25, displayed numerous warning signs far in advance. His erratic behavior going back months included complaints he was hearing voices, angry and paranoid claims about being smeared as a pedophile, punching a colleague, and threatening to shoot up the Army base where he worked. Some of his family members and supervisors sounded the alarm. After a two-week stay and a psychiatric evaluation in July at an Army hospital, Army officials directed that Card should not possess a weapon or handle ammunition, according to CNN. (It’s not yet clear whether Card was involuntarily committed.)