In a filing in Maine federal court on Thursday, the U.S. government asked a judge to throw out a negligence lawsuit brought by survivors and relatives of victims of the Oct. 2023 Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting. The families contend the U.S. Army failed to protect them by not intervening before the killings, which occurred when Robert Card, then a 40-year-old Army reservist, opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill.
The government’s motion seeks dismissal on two main grounds, according to the filing: it argues the court lacks authority to hear the case, and it says the families’ claims do not satisfy the legal standard required to continue. The U.S. also argues that the shooter, Card, was “solely responsible” for the attack and that the government should not be held liable for his actions, framing the case as an attempt to attribute responsibility where it does not belong.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys representing 100 survivors and victims’ family members, who say the Army and related institutions failed to act on warning signs. The complaint alleges negligence tied to how the Army handled Card’s mental health, including the allegation that the Army did not properly investigate his mental condition.
Card, meanwhile, was found dead by suicide two days after the shootings. The attorneys have said Card’s mental health decline led to his hospitalization and left him paranoid, delusional, and expressing homicidal ideations. They also said Card produced a “hit list” of people he wanted to attack, as the case describes the warning signs and escalation preceding the killings.
After the shootings, an independent commission appointed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills later concluded that there were “numerous opportunities for intervention” by both Army officials and civilian law enforcement, according to the lawsuit narrative summarized in the court filing and coverage. The families argue those opportunities were missed, and that the failure to respond to warning signs amounted to negligence.
The motion comes after the families previously announced the filing of the lawsuit last year and then refiled it in September following a U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faulted the Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members. In a Friday statement, attorneys Travis Brennan and Ben Gideon said they expected the government’s latest motion and planned to respond.
“Unfortunately, the government’s motion was predictable and expected. The government’s motion is a lengthy denial of any legal responsibility for broken promises to protect the community it pledges to defend. We look forward to filing our response,” Brennan and Gideon said in their statement. The lawsuit names the U.S. government as the defendant and also faults the U.S. Department of Defense and Keller Army Community Hospital, alleging they failed to respond to warning signs and an explicit threat to commit a mass shooting by Card.
Beyond the courtroom, the Lewiston shootings helped spur new guns laws in Maine, a state with a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership. The laws prompted legal action by gun rights advocates and remain a contentious topic more than two years later.