Governor Mills Responds to Independent Commission's Final Report

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September 6, 2024
Office of Governor

Augusta, MAINE �€" Governor Janet Mills today responded to the final report (PDF) of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston.

Describing the report as "frustrating" and "painful to read," Governor Mills said that she had full faith and confidence in the facts, as determined by the Independent Commission, and agreed with the Commission's conclusion that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Army Reserve failed to take actions that could have changed the course of events leading up to last October's tragedy.

"At its core, this tragedy was caused by a colossal failure of human judgment by several people, on several occasions; a profound negligence that �€" as the Commission rightly stated �€" was an abdication of responsibility," said Governor Janet Mills. "As I have said in the past, understanding the facts and circumstances of this tragedy is a cornerstone of healing. Another cornerstone is accountability."

With respect to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office, the Governor urged the voters of Sagadahoc County read and consider the Independent Commission's findings before casting a vote in the election for county sheriff this November. The Independent Commission unanimously concluded that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office had probable cause to take the perpetrator into protective custody under Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order and to initiate a petition to confiscate his firearms but failed to do so.

With respect to the U.S. Army Reserve, the Governor sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this morning calling on him to ensure full implementation of a series of U.S. Army Reserve recommendations outlined in the Army's July report designed to improve the oversight and care of its personnel. In her letter, she requested an update on the implementation of those recommendations, announced her support for forthcoming legislation being drafted by U.S. Senators Collins and King authorizing the military to utilize state crisis prevention programs, like Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order law, and urged the Defense Secretary to also support the bill.

The Governor also announced her support for a series of primary recommendations released by the Maine State Police this morning in its after-action report and announced that, as part of her biennial budget request in January, she will ask the Legislature for funding to fully implement these recommendations.

With the release of the report, the Governor said, "We take another step forward on that long road to healing."

"I think it is important to acknowledge that we are all at different points �€" different stages �€" of healing. Some may still feel frustrated and angry. Some may feel scared. Some may feel grief and sadness, or frozen in time, watching the world move on while they are missing the people they love �€" a feeling that the last year passed in both the blink of an eye and a lifetime.�€�I know, I feel all of these things at times, and I want people to know that these feelings are okay. I have found that the best antidote, if you will, to the anger, grief, and fear is love. It is love, compassion, understanding, and support," the Governor said.

"We have lost 18 people �€" family, friends, loved ones. Many more were injured, both physically and emotionally. In a small, close-knit community like Lewiston and in a small, close-knit state like Maine, most everyone knew somebody who was directly impacted by the tragedy.�€��€�What is special about Maine �€" what I have always loved about our state �€" is that, in the darkest of times, in the depths of our most difficult challenges, we are there for one another.�€��€�Whatever you are feeling, and however long you feel it, know that you are not alone," she continued. "Let us all do our part to protect each other, to listen when someone asks for help, and to speak up when something doesn't feel right. To offer our grace to those who are still grieving and our love to the people of Lewiston."

The Governor also highlighted actions taken by her Administration since the tragedy, in partnership with the legislature, to enhance public safety and strengthens Maine's mental health system. More specifically, the landmark law and budget initiatives:

• Strengthen Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order Law: The new law strengthens the existing statute to allow law enforcement to seek a protective custody warrant signed by a judge, in unusual circumstances, to take a person into protective custody, providing them with another tool to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody to remove their weapons.
  
• Extend National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to Advertised, Private Sales: The new law requires any advertised firearm sale to be checked against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as is required for commercial sales at federally licensed firearm dealers.
  
• Incentivize NICS Checks for Unadvertised, Private Sales: The new law strengthens Maine law to make it easier to prosecute anyone who sells a gun to someone not allowed to have one and toughens Maine law to make that type of illegal sale a felony, not just a misdemeanor. This approach will mean that transfers of firearms to family members or trusted friends, as is common in Maine, will remain unchanged, but it will incentivize checks against the NICS system for private, unadvertised sales to unknown individuals through the threat of increased risk of prosecution and prison time.
  
• Establish an Office of Violence Prevention at the Maine CDC: The budget established an Office of Violence Prevention at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to coordinate and promote efforts to reduce violence, including through the creation of a central hub to bring together data about violence-related injuries and deaths that is currently kept separate (such as in police reports, medical examiner files, and emergency department files) to inform public health and prevention measures to reduce suicides and homicides in Maine. This expands on the Governor's initial proposal in her bill to create an Injury and Violence Prevention Program at the Maine CDC.
  
• Build More Crisis Receiving Centers: The budget establishes three new crisis receiving centers, located in Lewiston, Penobscot County, and Aroostook County, and increases start-up funds for a hybrid center in Kennebec County. Building on the successful pilot in Portland, crisis receiving centers are a proven model of behavioral crisis intervention, allowing any person experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis to get immediate, appropriate, and no-cost care. The law also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to create a statewide network of crisis receiving centers. This builds on the Governor's initial proposal in her bill to create a crisis receiving center in Lewiston and develop a similar plan for other parts of Maine.
  
• Support Mobile Crisis Teams: $5.3 million ($1.7 million in General Fund) to strengthen mobile crisis response through a comprehensive MaineCare (Medicaid) payment model. This model will support teams comprised of specially trained behavioral health responders including peers who de-escalate mental health and substance use crises, assess needs, and provide an appropriate level of care in the least restrictive setting. These teams, which are dispatched to the location of a person in crisis through the 988 -- Maine's 24/7 centralized crisis lifeline -- are a critical safety-net service that the Mills Administration has effectively worked with providers and national experts for the past two years to improve.
  
• Promote Safe Firearm Storage: $100,000 enhance the promotion of Maine's Safe Homes Program, which encourages Maine people to safely store firearms and highlights programs that make safe storage more affordable, like the tax exemption, passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, for devices specifically designed to secure firearms. The Safe Homes Program was created by the Legislature and Governor in 2022.
  
• Hire More State Troopers: $1.7 million to establish 8 State Police Trooper positions, 2 State Police Corporal positions, 1 State Police Detective positions, 4 State Police Sergeant positions and one State Police Major position to allow Maine State Police to support Resource Coordination Agreements with counties and municipalities and continue rural policing throughout the state, providing for 24/7 operations.
  
• Enhance Funding for Extreme Risk Protection Order Assessments: $422,400 to support the surge in mental health assessments under the extreme risk protection order law since the tragedy in Lewiston. Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order law has been used a total of 392 times, including 311 times since the tragedy in Lewiston.
  
• Create the Maine Mass Violence Care Fund: $5 million in one-time funding to create the Maine Mass Violence Care Fund to provide coverage for physical and mental health out-of-pocket expenses that are connected to a mass violence event in Maine and are not covered by insurance. The fund will be invested by the Office of the State Treasurer with eligibility determined and proceeds distributed by the Maine Crime Victims Compensation Board within the Office of the Attorney General.
  
• Fund Victims' Services: $6 million in one-time funding to address a Federal funding shortfall from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). The State funding will support community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services, civil legal representation for victims, government-based victim witness advocates, and housing and supportive services for elder abuse victims.

Governor Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey established the Independent Commission in the wake of the October 25, 2023 mass shootings in Lewiston, appointing seven experts with extensive legal, investigative, and mental health backgrounds to determine the facts of the shootings, including the months preceding the shootings and the police response to them.

The Independent Commission, chaired by former Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Daniel Wathen, held sixteen public hearings and considered hundreds of hours of testimony over nine months before releasing its final report on August 20, 2024. More about the Commission, its members, reports, and video recordings of public hearings, can be found at maine.gov/icl.

View a complete copy of the Governor's remarks, as prepared for delivery (PDF)

View a copy of the Governor's letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (PDF)

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