Authorities had cause to take Maine gunman into custody before mass shooting, commission finds

An independent commission investigating a mass shooting last year that left 18 dead in Maine issued an interim report Friday that found that a sheriff's office had cause to take the killer into custody beforehand and take away his guns.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey had assembled the commission to review both the events leading up to Oct. 25, when Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a bar, and the response to the attack.

Led by a former chief justice of Maine's highest court, the commission also included a former U.S. attorney and the former chief forensic psychologist for the state. It held seven sessions starting in November, hearing from law enforcement, survivors and victims' family members and members of the U.S. Army Reserve, as it explored whether anything could have been done to prevent the mass shooting and what changes should be made going forward.