September 3, 2025 -- Lewiston Maine -- One hundred survivors and victims’ families affected by the October 25, 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, have filed a federal lawsuit against the United States. The lawsuit seeks accountability from the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, and Keller Army Community Hospital after those institutions ignored warning signs of the dangers posed by Army Reserve Sergeant Robert Card, including Card’s threat to commit a mass shooting just six weeks before the Lewiston.
After months of inaction and silence from the federal government, families were forced to file suit, alleging that the Army ignored its own policies and regulations designed to protect the public from the known risks of soldiers with mental illness and access to military grade weapons. The families are represented by four law firms: Berman & Simmons, Gideon Asen, National Trial Law, and Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder.
“The Army repeatedly broke its promise to protect the community that it pledges to defend and we are not going to let them get away with it,” said attorney Travis Brennan of Berman & Simmons. “The evidence we have gathered since the shooting is disturbing. The facts show that despite every possible warning raised by Card’s behavior, the Army failed at every turn. The Army needs to answer for this. Without accountability what hope can we have of preventing this kind of tragedy from repeating itself?”
Attorney Benjamin Gideon of Gideon Asen added: “It’s disappointing that after the Army’s failures to keep us safe, the federal government has not responded to our pre-suit claims, forcing these families to seek justice through the courts. If the Army does not accept accountability here, where it knew its soldier had severe mental illness, had access to weapons and was warned in advance that he planned to commit a mass shooting, then it’s hard to imagine the Army ever accepting accountability without being forced to do so in court.”
At a press conference today, the attorneys for the victims and families were surrounded by clients, several of whom made short statements.
“As a wife and mother, losing both my husband and my child in a tragedy that never should have happened is a pain beyond words,” said Cynthia Young, whose husband William and fourteen-year-old son, Aaron, were both killed at the bowling alley. “We trusted those in power to protect our loved ones, and their inaction cost us everything. No family should have to endure this heartbreak when so many warning signs were ignored.”
The Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Maine against the United States of America.
Click here for the Final Complaint.