PORTLAND, Maine — An Army reservist responsible for the deadliest shooting in Maine history received a glowing review from his superiors even as some of his family members were growing increasingly worried about his mental health.
The annual evaluation from April 2023 indicated Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, was “a consummate professional” who “excelled as a squad leader” and whose mentoring of troops was “among the best,” according to the documents released under an open records request. Six months later, Card killed 18 people in a mass shooting before killing himself.
The personnel files also show Card had received some mental health-related training years earlier when he volunteered to become one of his unit’s suicide prevention officers and attended associated schooling in 2015-2016.
Card’s last evaluation was dated shortly before his ex-wife and son reported to police in May that he had become angry and paranoid in the preceding months, and had falsely accused his son of saying things behind his back.
No disciplinary records were in the files released under the federal Freedom of Information Act, but those wouldn’t necessarily be turned over without permission from Card’s family, according to the Portland Press Herald, which first obtained the records.
Several of Card’s fellow Army reservists are due to testify next month to a governor-appointed independent commission investigating the Oct. 25 shootings,…
