The testimony comes one day after family members revealed that Lewiston gunman Robert Card's brain had significant evidence of traumatic injuries, most likely from his time in the militaryand participated in the search for him after the killings on Thursday described the response to the tragedy as chaotic.
Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a two-day search. He had showed signs of mental health decline before the massacre; evidence now shows he suffered from traumatic brain injuries,Sign up for NECN newsletters. He had been an instructor at an Army hand grenade training range, where it is believed he was exposed to repeated low-level blasts. It is unknown if that caused his brain injury and what role brain injury played in his decline in mental health in the months before he opened fire at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston on Oct. 25. McKee made no connection between the brain injury and the gunman's violent actions.
“We are hurting for you and with you, and it is hard to put into words how badly we wish we could undo what happened,” they said in the statement. “While we cannot go back, we are releasing the findings of Robert's brain study with the goal of supporting ongoing efforts to learn from this tragedy to ensure it never happens again.”
The shooter was hospitalized in July after he shoved a fellow reservist and locked himself in a motel room during training. Later, in September, a fellow reservist told an Army superior he was concerned the gunman was going to “snap and do a mass shooting.” The reservist, Sean Hodgson, was not among those who testified Thursday.