Breakdown: Turning anguish into action [Video]

Months before the mass shooting in Lewiston that claimed 18 lives, the gunman’s family and friends were desperately trying to get him help.

His mental health was deteriorating. He was experiencing auditory delusions. And there were multiple warnings about his potential for violence, his access to guns and his threats to do harm.

Six weeks before the attacks, his best friend warned the Army Reserve that he might snap and commit a mass shooting.

Maine Public Radio, in partnership with the Portland Press Herald and Frontline PBS, presents “Breakdown:” a limited-series podcast about the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history.

Episode 2 begins a two-part examination into the numerous opportunities for intervention that could have changed everything.

Audio transcript

[piano music fades up]

SUSAN SHARON, HOST: The sun is setting when Sean Hodgson arrives downtown to pick up his tractor trailer. Right away, he notices that his friend Robert Card’s white Subaru isn’t in its usual spot. They …