Sergeant faulted for actions before Maine mass shooting is running for sheriff

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine sergeant who has been criticized by an investigatory panel for his handling of a report about a man who later carried out a mass shooting is running for sheriff, state records show.

Sgt. Aaron Skolfield of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office is running as a Republican against his boss, Sheriff Joel Merry, who is a Democrat.

Skolfield was criticized in a report last week from a commission that looked into events preceding the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history, in which Robert Card killed 18 people in a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston. Five weeks before the Oct. 25 shooting, Skolfield responded to a call that Card was suffering from a mental health crisis.

A commission convened by the governor and attorney general to review the facts of the shooting found that Skolfield should have realized he had probable cause to start the state’s “yellow flag” process, which can be used to remove guns from a potentially dangerous person.

Neither Skolfield nor Merry responded to calls seeking comment about the commission’s report last week, and neither responded to calls Tuesday about the election. Both men defended the sheriff’s office’s actions during a January hearing in front of the commission.

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