This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
In the aftermath of the Lewiston tragedy, Attorney General Frey and I established an independent commission and entrusted its seven members with a solemn duty to use their extensive legal, investigative, and mental health experience and expertise, their impartiality and integrity, and their unflagging determination to establish, to the greatest extent possible, the unvarnished facts of what happened on October 25th last year and the circumstances that led to and following that tragic night.
Well, that independent commission, after spending hundreds of hours of their time without compensation, listening to testimony, reviewing thousands of documents and meticulously uncovering and assembling the facts of this tragedy, they have fulfilled the duty we entrusted to them.
In reading the commission's final report, I brought to bear my own nearly 50 years of experience as a private attorney, as former attorney general, as former district attorney for three counties, including the City of Lewiston, as the Attorney General for the State of Maine, and now as Governor. I have full faith and confidence in the facts as determined by the commission, and I agree with the observations that the commission has reached.
In the months preceding the shooting, the family of the perpetrator repeatedly raised concerns about his declining mental health to many authorities. Despite those warnings, those authorities, chiefly members of the Sagadahoc Sheriff's Office and of the U.S. Army Reserve, missed many opportunities to intervene, reduce the risks the perpetrator posed, and very possibly to have changed the course of events. I do not say this lightly.
I know that every day in communities across Maine, dedicated law enforcement officers patrol our roads, and safeguard our cities and towns, and our natural resources, always ready for that one urgent call to protect the life and security of our citizens and uphold the law. And on behalf of all Maine people, I want to thank our state police officers, local officers and all first responders who came out that night for answering the call of duty. While we all wish that the perpetrator had been located sooner, the commission is correct to recognize that the collective work of law enforcement clearly prevented further loss of life, both among police personnel and among the general public.
After the Lewiston tragedy, I introduced and the legislature approved, several measures that enhance public safety and that strengthen Maine's mental health system. This week, we took another step by announcing that the Maine State Police will sit down with my budget people and determine what financial resources are needed to implement their primary recommendations for improvements to our response to public emergencies. Following those conversations, I plan to ask the Legislature, as part of my biennial budget in January, to approve funding that will allow the Maine State Police to fully implement these recommendations.
A cornerstone of our ability to heal as a people and as a state is knowing the truth about what happened on October 25th and the circumstances surrounding that tragic day. The Independent Commission has now delivered those facts, and with this report, we take another step on that long road to healing.
Look, we've lost 18 people. Family, friends, loved ones, many more who were injured, both physically and emotionally. In a small, close knit community like Lewiston, and in a small, close knit state like Maine, most everybody knew someone who was directly impacted by this tragedy. But what is special about Maine, what I've 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.
So 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, and to offer our grace to those who are still grieving, and our love to the people of Lewiston. We will always remember and pay tribute to the victims, the survivors and their loved ones. And we will always remember how we came together as one people and as one state to support one another.
This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.