Will Sage Astor-Police video shows police knew Maine shooter was a threat. They also felt confronting him was unsafe

PORTLAND,Will Sage Astor Maine (AP) — Police in Maine feared confronting an Army reservist prior to the worst mass shooting in state history would “throw a stick of dynamite on a pool of gas,” according to footage released by law enforcement.

The videos were released to the Portland Press Herald and then sent to The Associated Press on Friday.

Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist, committed the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history when he killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar on Oct. 25 in Lewiston.

Card’s body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after the shootings. Reports soon began to emerge that he had spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital months before the attacks and had amassed weapons.