Attorney Travis Brennan and Team Serve Legal Notice on Behalf of 100 Survivors and Victims’ Families of the Oct. 25 Mass Shooting

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One hundred survivors and victims’ families of the October 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, served legal notice today upon the United States of their intent to pursue claims against the Department of Defense (DoD), Army, and Keller Army Community Hospital (KACH), for negligence in failing to respond warning signs and an explicit threat to commit a mass shooting, from Army Reserve Sergeant Robert Card. Card was allowed to remain in the community with severe, untreated mental illness, and to have continued access to assault weapons in the lead-up to the mass shooting. The legal notice served today is the first step in the process through which survivors and family members of those killed will pursue civil lawsuits to recover for the wrongful deaths, physical injuries, and emotional trauma inflicted by the mass shootings of innocent men, women, and children at a bowling alley and local bar in Lewiston, Maine.

The notices, served today, summarize some of the key facts uncovered to date that support their negligence claims, including:

  • Between March and July 2023, the Army became aware that Card had suffered a severe and precipitous decline in his mental health, resulting in erratic and combative behaviors, and promised to take steps to address Card’s condition. The Army failed to act.
  • The Army, KACH, and DoD knew that Card had been exposed to thousands of blast events from his work as a firearms and grenade instructor but did not investigate whether physiological damage to Card’s brain from such blast exposure was a root cause of Card’s sudden and inexplicable onset of mental illness, or otherwise determine whether Card’s illness was caused or exacerbated in the “line of duty,” as required by Army regulations.
  • In July and August 2023, the Army and KACH determined that Card’s mental illness—including paranoia, delusions, and homicidal ideations with the development of a “hit list”—posed a serious risk to himself and others, but nevertheless allowed Card to return to the community without the cause of his mental illness determined or a plan for treatment, and without reporting Card under New York’s SAFE Act or Red Flag laws.
  • Although Card’s doctors released him from the hospital on the condition that he no longer have access to firearms, and the Army and KACH assured his doctors that they would remove Card’s firearms, they did not do so and left Card in possession of numerous weapons, including the AR-10 assault rifle he used to carry out the mass shooting.
  • Following Card’s release from the hospital and return to Maine, the Army and KACH failed to notify local Maine law enforcement, provide them with Card’s recent history, or inform them that Card’s doctors had directed that Card be separated from his firearms.
  • In September 2023, when the Army learned that Card had threatened to shoot up the military base in Saco and commit a mass shooting, the Army downplayed and minimized the threat (despite later acknowledging that it was serious and credible), and actively discouraged local law enforcement from taking decisive action.

The 100 victims and survivors are jointly represented by four law firms: Berman & Simmons, PA (Maine), Gideon Asen LLC (Maine), Koskoff (Connecticut), and National Trial Law (Texas).

“Today marks the first step toward ensuring accountability and justice for the families and victims of the worst mass shooting in Maine history,” said Benjamin Gideon, one of the attorneys representing the victims.

“As our notices show, there were numerous unheeded red flags and warning signs that should have triggered action on the part of the Army that would have prevented this tragedy,” said attorney Travis Brennan another of the victims’ attorneys.

At a press conference today, the attorneys for the victims and families were surrounded by clients, several of whom made short statements.

“There is pain, trauma, and regrets that will never go away,” said Cynthia Young, whose husband William, and fourteen-year-old son, Aaron, were both killed at the bowling alley. “As terrible as the shooting was it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken,” said Young.

The notices served today, referred to as Form 95s, are required by the Federal Tort Claims Act, a statute that permits civil actions against the United States for negligence.  The claimants served copies of the Form 95 for each claimant by certified mail on the U.S. Army Claims Service, the Secretary of the Army, the Department of Defense, and Keller Army Community Hospital. By law, the U.S. has six months to investigate and evaluate the claims. If the U.S. denies the claims or fails to act upon them within six months, whichever is earlier, the claimants may file lawsuits in Federal Court.

“In the year since the mass shooting, there have been several investigations and many facts have come to light that show that the Army could have—and should have—acted,” said Brennan.  “Although we expect to learn more through the civil case, it is now abundantly clear that there were many opportunities to intervene that would have prevented the tragic events of October 25.”

“We are committed to moving this case forward as aggressively as permitted by law,” said Gideon. “The U.S. should have sufficient information through the Army’s own internal investigation to evaluate our claims promptly. However, if the U.S. chooses to run out the clock by sitting on our claims without acting, we will file our action six months and one day from today. We are committed to moving forward and ensuring accountability and justice for our clients,” Gideon promised.

For More Information, Contact:  

Christen Graham

cgraham@givingstrong.com

207-838-0082