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Sagahadoc County Sheriff Joel Merry was re-elected to the deputy seat

Online Niel November 7, 2024

Voters in Sagadahoc County, Maine, on Tuesday re-elected Sheriff Joel Merry over a sergeant in the department who was accused of failing to take action to disarm an Army reservist responsible for killing 18 people in the deadliest mass shooting in table in the state last year.

Democrat Joel Merry won 63 percent of the vote in the rural county. His Republican challenger, Patrol Sergeant Aaron Skolfield, received 37 percent, according to results published online by The New York Times.

Both law enforcement officers have faced tough questions from state investigators about the department’s interactions with Army reservist Robert Card, and both said they don’t want their careers to be defined by the events leading up to last year’s shooting.

Merry served more than 25 years as a Bath police officer before starting as Sagadahoc sheriff in 2009. He did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday morning, Skolfield conceded to Merry.

“It is difficult to unseat an incumbent,” Skolfield wrote. “I would like to thank you all for your support this year which has been the hardest to say. The overwhelming support you have provided has truly meant the world to me, beyond words. Without you I certainly wouldn’t have endured the way I did… The voters have spoken, congrats on your win Joel. God bless them all.”

A state commission investigating the shooting criticized the sheriff’s office and named Skolfield in an interim report in March for not intervening to remove Card’s firearms before he killed 18 people and wounded 13 more across county lines in Lewiston on the 25 October, despite ample evidence that he was a threat.

In his post, Skolfield said he is considering legal action against the Lewiston Commission and Gov. Janet Mills for defamation.

The state board’s interim report said the sheriff’s office had probable cause to take Card into protective custody in September under the state’s yellow flag law.

This process allows authorities to temporarily seize someone’s guns if they are in a mental health crisis and are a threat to themselves or others.

The commission’s report said Skolfield “should have realized” he had probable cause to start the trial after responding to a report that Card suffered a mental health crisis, threatened to shoot up the Saco Army base Reserve, hit a friend and possess firearms. .

Tonya Alanez can be reached at [email protected]. Follow a @talanez.