Local Cops Aren’t Prepared for This Kind of Bloodshed
Instead of addressing lax gun laws, Americans fixate on what the authorities might have done differently.
After the devastating mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, late last month, an all-too-familiar ritual began to play out: The initial horror over the deaths of 18 victims gave way to second-guessing about what more local authorities might have done.
The gunman, Robert Card, went on a rampage at a bar and at a bowling alley. He crossed town without any police intervention, abandoned his car, and disappeared for days, until he was found dead, including his family members and Army Reserve colleagues. In a report filed after an attempted wellness check at his home weeks earlier, a Sagadahoc County sheriff’s deputy noted that one reservist was concerned that Card was “going to snap and commit a mass shooting.”
