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Maine State Police Col William Ross Responds to Questions Regarding Lewiston Shooter Manhunt, Failure of Yellow Flag Law:WGAN
Edward TomicBy Edward TomicNovember 2, 2023Updated:November 2, 20233 Comments9 Mins Read
Maine State Police Col. William Ross faced tough questions Thursday morning regarding the manhunt for Lewiston shooter Robert Card during an interview on WGAN Morning News with Matt Gagnon.
[RELATED: Maine Gov Calls for “Independent” Commission to Review Police, Army Failures and Botched Investigation Around Robert Card’s Lewiston Murder Spree…]
The Maine State Police (MSP) was the agency in charge of the nearly 48-hour search for the shooter, which ended abruptly and surprisingly Friday eveningwhen Card’s body was found less than a mile from where he ditched his car.
Since the manhunt concluded, it has faced scrutiny and criticism from both the media and the public,as well as from one Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputy, who criticized the search operation in a Facebook post.
In the since-deleted post, sheriff’s deputyJon Guay called the Command Staff of the MSP “utter clowns,”and said that “Radio Silence” was the best way to describe the amount of information that the MSP shared with the law enforcement officers involved in the manhunt.
“I think there’s a lot of frustration out there of what people don’t know, and they don’t know the why, and the how, and all of that,” Col. Ross said when asked about the Facebook post.
“Our real issue is, you know, a lot of people have the luxury to have an opinion, and look at us and say ‘but I would have done this differently,’ ‘I would have done that differently’ — but we really have that ultimate responsibility of the decisions that are made with the people that are there on the scene,” Ross explained.
Col. Ross added that he does not know the individual behind the Facebook post, and that the MSP’s reaction to the post was more geared towards the media, who he said “really exploited this thing.”
The Manhunt for Robert Card: Why Were K-9 Units Not Used?
Turning to the topic of the manhunt itself, WGAN Morning News host Matt Gagnon asked Ross to go into detail about why there appeared to be a substantial delay between the discovery of Card’s abandoned vehicle and a search of the surrounding area.
Ross rebutted that there was not a delay, calling it “misinformation.”
He explained that immediately after the vehicle was discovered shortly before 10 p.m. on the night of the shooting, “tactical units” approached and cleared the vehicle.
Following the discover of the vehicle, Col. Ross explained, a discussion occurred regarding how best to proceed with the search of the area around the boat launch where the vehicle was ditched.
This discussion, Ross said, included whether to utilize K-9 units or one of the many “tactical assets” at the MSP’s disposal.
While this discussion was occurring, however, Ross said that there was a search underway of the “wooded area” surrounding the vehicle, including a false lead from a helicopter heat signature reading.
“The decision was made, and the safest thing to do, is use tactical assets that have specialized training in night movements, specialized equipment to work at night,” Ross said. “These teams, they have better weapon systems, they have better body armor, they have better training, than some of the first responders that are there.”
The decision to make use of the tactical assets rather than the other first responders was informed by considering the threat Robert Card posed to the law enforcement involved in the search.