Two Lawmen Linked to Maine’s Deadliest Shooting Are Vying for Sheriff Job

Two key figures involved in handling the aftermath of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting are now squaring off for the post of Sagadahoc County sheriff.

The race between Democratic incumbent Sheriff Joel Merry and Republican patrol Sgt. Aaron Skolfield has been marked by scrutiny over their responses to the crisis.

On October 25, 2023, Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, carried out an armed attack in the city of Lewiston during a mental health breakdown. He targeted a local bowling alley and the nearby Schemengees Bar, killing 18 and injuring 13 others in less than ten minutes.

While neither candidate wishes to be defined by the tragedy, their involvement in the events surrounding it continues to shape the narrative of their campaigns, just weeks before the one-year anniversary of the tragic event.

How were the two involved?

Before the massacre, in his role as a patrol sergeant Skofield attempted to conduct a welfare check on Card after receiving a warning that Card was going to “shoot up” his Army reserve unit’s headquarters. However Card did not answer the door to him.

Because no access to the premises was made, law enforcement did not invoke Maine’s Yellow Flag Law, which allows authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals in psychiatric crises if evaluated by a medical professional.

Governor Janet Mills and an independent commission investigating the shooting have criticized Skolfield for not taking stronger action, but he contends his hands were tied by the limitations of the yellow flag law at the time.

“It would’ve been illegal to knock down the door,” Skolfield argued.

Sheriff Merry, Skolfield’s boss at the time, has defended the patrol sergeant’s actions, emphasizing that Skolfield did what he could under the circumstances.

The independent commission also scrutinized Merry’s approach, although he argued he was not able to oversee the welfare check as he usually would have due to a health issue.

Merry says he did not learn the full details of the check until after Card’s deadly rampage, but looking at the records he believes his deputy acted appropriately given the information available at the time.

Merry said he wished Skolfield had been provided a fuller picture of Card’s mental health crisis.

“That’s an entirely different scenario, which I think would have had an entirely different response […] I felt I defended him to the extent that I could,” Merry said.

Merry, a four-term incumbent, originally indicated he would not run again but changed his mind following personal and professional setbacks, catalyzed by the events of last year.

He has championed mental health initiatives throughout his career, working to hire a mental health liaison for the sheriff’s office, though the liaison hadn’t started at the time of the Lewiston shooting.

Skolfield, for his part, argues that it’s time for Merry to step aside, suggesting the incumbent has overstayed his tenure.

Despite their differences, both men agree that state lawmakers were right to update the yellow flag law, which has since been used with increasing frequency across Maine, including about 18 times in Sagadahoc County.

The upcoming election poses a difficult choice for voters like Vicki Sprague, who acknowledges the difficulty of assessing blame for the shooting, but has long respected the sheriff’s office.

“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve always had a great deal of respect for police department, fire department and the sheriff’s department. I think they’ve done a fabulous job,” she said.

“The recent thing that happened?” she said, referring to the tragedy. “There were a lot of mistakes there. I don’t know. That’s where I’m at.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press