A recent brain tissue analysis by Boston University researchers has found significant evidence of traumatic brain injuries in Robert Card, the Army reservist responsible for killing 18 people in Maine last year.
The study, released by Card’s family on Wednesday, showed degeneration in nerve fibers that allow communication between different brain areas, inflammation, and small blood vessel injury. Dr. Ann McKee from Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center suggested that these findings likely played a role in Card’s symptoms, although she could not say with certainty that they were the underlying cause of his behavioral changes.
Card, who had been an instructor at an Army hand grenade training range, was believed to have been exposed to thousands of low-level blasts. His family members had warned police about his paranoid behavior and concerns about his access to guns in the months leading up to the shootings.
A special commission established by Gov. Janet Mills is currently investigating the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history, which took place on Oct. 25 at a bowling alley and a restaurant and bar in Lewiston. The panel, consisting of former judges and prosecutors, is also reviewing the police response to the shootings.
During previous hearings, law enforcement officials defended their approach to Card, citing the state’s yellow flag law, which makes it difficult to remove guns from a potentially dangerous person. Democrats in Maine are now looking to make changes to the state’s gun laws, with Mills proposing to allow law enforcement to directly seek a protective custody warrant from a judge to remove weapons from a dangerous individual.
The commission’s hearings have been crucial in unraveling the case, according to chair Daniel Wathen. The tragedy has affected not only the victims and their families but also the entire state of Maine and beyond.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.