A year after Army reservist Robert Card shot and killed 18 people and injured 13 others in Lewiston, Maine, his family is working to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries.
Card, a firearms and grenade instructor, had documented mental health issues before he used a Ruger SFAR to open fire on the bowling alley and bar and grill on Oct. 25, 2023. Authorities found him two days later with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A wound on the head.
“We want to make sure this never happens to another family again,” said Nicole Harling, Card's sister. NBC News In an interview published Tuesday.
Harling and her husband, James, have spoken publicly about the family's efforts to flag Card's mental illness before the massacre, which was Maine's deadliest mass shooting.
Maine shootings: Robert Card's note to loved ones and final movements revealed
On Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, Nicole Harling, sister of gunman Robert Card, hears testimony (bottom left) as she examines law enforcement's response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Member of the Independent Committee. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bucati, File)
The family tried to get help from the Veterans Crisis Hotline and Card Military Base.
According to NBC, local police responded to Card's home a month before the massacre after receiving a tip from his family, but officers did not make contact with him.
According to testimony from Mr. Card's family at a hearing in the Maine Legislature in May, a fellow Army reservist told a superior on Sept. 15 that Mr. Card “was going to shoot and commit a mass shooting.” He even said that he thought it was. Mass shooting incident.
Texts, letters from military colleagues of Maine massacre suspect warn that he threatened to 'shoot up'
The moment James Harling realized the gunman was his brother-in-law, Robert Card, while testifying at a hearing for an independent commission investigating the law enforcement response on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine. I paused my testimony while remembering that. Mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bucati)
Researchers studied Card's brain after the shooting and determined that he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.
Mr Card's family said at a hearing in May that researchers believed this was “one of the worst cases” of traumatic brain injury they had ever seen, and that Mr Card had been involved in thousands of deaths over the course of his career as a grenade instructor. He said he may have been exposed to the explosion. According to NBC.
Maine shooting suspect Robert Card is found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
This image taken from New York State Police body camera video obtained by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, shows New York State Police at Camp Smith in Cortland, Maine's deadliest mass shooting. Interviewing the culprit, Army reservist Robert Card. New York, July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police, via AP, File)
The Harlings are working to start a nonprofit called Rising Over Brokenness to educate the public about the dangers of brain injuries.
“We knew we needed to help other families, especially after we found out that Robbie's brain was affected,” James Harling told NBC anchor Lester Holt. ” he said.
Maine State Police audio explains response to mass shooting: 'Multiple victims'
On October 30, 2023, a rain-soaked memorial to those killed in a mass shooting stands on the roadside near Ski Menzies Bar & Grill in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
The Harlings also listed the names of all 18 shooting victims on the wall of their home. All 18 names are lined up with blue hearts on their property, according to NBC.
Nicole Harling said: “I don't want to talk about Robbie without acknowledging the pain he caused others.”
Maine authorities thought a confrontation with Robert Card in the weeks before the shooting would worsen the situation: video
Crime scene tape surrounds Ski Menzies Bar & Grill on October 29, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York)
In August, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it would “identify and implement best practices to promote overall brain health and address traumatic brain injury, including efforts to reduce blast overpressure risks for service members.” announced the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative, which focuses on
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October 15, 2023 Survivors and families of 100 victims of the October 25, 2023 mass shooting file suit against the Department of Defense, the Army, and Keller Army Regional Hospital for “negligent failure to respond to warning signs and warnings.” filed a legal notice expressing its intention to do so. “There was an explicit threat to commit a mass shooting from Army Reserve Sergeant Robert Card,” attorney Travis Brennan said.
