The family of a Maine mass shooter identifies overlooked warning signs and raises awareness

A year after Army reservist Robert Card fatally shot 18 people and injured 13 others in Lewiston, Maine, his family members are working to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries.

Card, a firearms and hand grenade instructor, had documented mental health issues before opening fire with a Ruger SFAR at a bowling alley and bar and grill on October 25, 2023. Authorities located him two days later with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“We want to make sure this never happens to another family again,” Nicole Herling, Card's sister, told NBC News in an interview published Tuesday.

Herling and her husband, James, spoke publicly about their family's efforts to report Card's mental illness before the massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in Maine.

Maine Shooting: Robert Card's Message to Loved Ones and Final Steps Revealed

Members of the independent commission examining law enforcement's response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, listen as Nicole Herling (bottom left), sister of shooter Robert Card, speaks on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine , says. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Family members attempted to call a veterans crisis line and Card's military base for help.

A month before the massacre, local law enforcement even responded to Card's residence after receiving reports from his family, but officers made no contact, according to NBC.

Another Army reservist even told his superiors on Sept. 15 that he believed Card would “snap out and do a mass shooting,” according to testimony from Card's family during a May hearing before the Maine Legislature as part of an independent investigation emerges mass shooting.

Texts and Letters from Army Colleagues of the Maine Massacre

James Herling pauses his testimony and recalls the moment he realized the shooter was his brother-in-law, Robert Card, on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission that oversees the Law enforcement response investigated, testified about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Researchers examined Card's brain after the shooting and found he had severe traumatic brain injuries.

His family said during the hearing in May that researchers had told them it was “one of the worst” cases of traumatic brain injury they had ever seen, with Card potentially exposed to thousands of explosions over the course of his career as a hand grenade instructor. according to NBC.

Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound

In this image, taken from New York State Police body camera video captured by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, New York State Police interviews Army reservist Robert Card, the man responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting at Camp Smith in Cortlandt. New York, July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police via AP, File)

The Herlings are working to create a nonprofit organization called Rising Over Brokenness to educate the public about the dangers of brain injuries.

“We realized we needed to help other families, especially when we realized Robbie's brain was impaired,” James Herling told NBC anchor Lester Holt.

Maine Police Audio Recording Describes Frantic Response to Mass Shooting: 'Multiple Victims'

Rainy memorials to those who died in a mass shooting stand on the side of the road at Schemengees Bar & Grille on October 30, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

The Herlings also have the names of all 18 shooting victims listed on the walls of their home. According to NBC, all 18 names decorated their property with blue hearts.

“I never want to talk about Robbie without acknowledging the pain he caused other people,” Nicole Herling said.

Maine authorities believed confrontation with Robert Card was making things worse weeks before the shooting: Video

Schemenges Bar & Grille is still surrounded by crime scene tape, October 29, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced a Warfighter Brain Health Initiative in August that will focus on “identifying and implementing best practices to promote overall brain health and combat traumatic brain injury, including efforts to mitigate blast hyperbaric risk to service members.”

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On October 15, the families of 100 survivors and victims of the October 25, 2023 mass shooting submitted a legal notice expressing their intent to sue the Department of Defense, the Army and Keller Army Community Hospital for “negligence in failing to comply with Warning Signs” to sue “an explicit threat to commit a mass shooting by Army Reserve Sergeant Robert Card,” said attorney Travis Brennan.