A laboratory found a pattern of cell damage that has been seen in #veterans exposed to #weapons blasts, & said it probably played a role in the gunman’s spiral into #violence.
A specialized laboratory examining the #brain of the gunman who committed #Maine’s deadliest #MassShooting found profound #BrainDamage of the kind that has been seen in #veterans exposed to repeated blasts from #weapons use.
The lab’s findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief ME’s office & released by the #gunman’s family.
The #gunman, #RobertCard, was a #grenade instructor in the #ArmyReserve. In 2023, after 8 yrs of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing #voices & was stalked by #paranoid#delusions. He grew increasingly erratic & #violent in the months before the Oct rampage in #Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people & then himself.
His brain was sent to a #Veterans Affairs laboratory in Boston that is known for its pioneering work documenting chronic #traumatic#encephalopathy, or #CTE, in athletes.
Acc/to the lab’s report, prepared on Feb 26 & updated on Wednesday, the white matter that forms the wiring deep in the #brain had “moderately severe” damage, & in some areas was missing entirely.
The delicate tissue sheaths that insulate each biological circuit lay in “disorganized clumps,” & throughout #RobertCard’s #brain there was scarring & inflammation suggesting repeated #trauma.
This was not #CTE, the report said. It was a characteristic pattern of damage that has been found before in #military#veterans who were repeatedly exposed to #weapons#blasts during their service.
We still have time in OUR towns to demand this change before we also find ourselves among the grieving and angry.
"They’re calling for accessible mental health care, restrictions on firearms and more aggressive law enforcement action when a person with access to weapons is exhibiting psychosis."
Months ahead of his bloody rampage in Lewiston last week, suspected Maine gunman Robert Card had displayed glaring signals that his mental health was on a drastic decline – signals which his immediate family members knew about, were concerned by – and explicitly warned law enforcement that something needed to be done, according to documents obtained by ABC News.
I got my degrees at #UMaine, lived in Bangor for two years after school, and then in Waterville for another two. I return to #Maine often to visit my brother. My parents, other brother, and sister-in-law are all buried there.
I know enough about #Lewiston to recall classmates from that area calling it “LA", because it was often called Lewiston-Auburn, encompassing its neighbor-city. "I'm going home to LA this weekend!" and so on.
So that's all that in my thoughts and in my heart right now.
I go to Las Vegas once or twice per year and I usually stay at Mandalay Bay. I have no other connection to that city. Yet I experience profound sadness there now, especially when looking out the hotel room window.
How am I ever going to go back to my hometown. It is forever changed. #Lewiston#Maine#lewistonMaine
We're in Freeport, Maine, less than 20 miles from the mass shooting in Lewiston. Guess what we heard for half an hour tonight as we prepared dinner? Loud gunfire. This has gone on for years. It occurs near our tourist town's businesses, homes, and walking trails. The Freeport police and Town Council know about it but have thus far refused to stop it. I need a favor: Could you please repost this? I want to put pressure on town officials and force them to end this. Thanks, folks. #Maine#Lewiston