May 24—LEWISTON — The head of the Maine State Police on Friday told the commission investigating the Lewiston mass shooting that the initial response as officers rushed to confront the gunman was “a proud moment” for law enforcement.

At a hearing of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston, members of the panel heard from state police officials discussing their internal and external communications during the event, as well as further details of how public safety leaders handled the search.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Ross said, but in general he painted a picture of an evermore organized oversight of what became the largest police operation in the state’s history.

“This was a massive undertaking,” Ross said.

Ross did not share the concerns expressed by some about the chaotic arrival of law enforcement officers from many different agencies who took it upon themselves to try to lend a hand in the first hours after the shootings.

“When the call came in, people responded,” Ross said. That’s what they should do, he added.

By early Thursday morning after the shootings, he said, an incident command center was up and running, its operations growing smoother as time went on.

His biggest gripes in terms of communication were focused on a couple of media leaks of potentially sensitive information, including news of a note found at killer Robert Card’s home long before police found him dead in a trailer in Lisbon.

Ross said police never tried to track down who leaked the information because they were busy with more important issues. He compared the effort to finding a needle in a haystack even in the best of circumstances.

Sgt. Greg Roy, who leads the state police tactical team, said the 16 tactical teams that came together during the search for Card went reasonably well.

He talked with the commission about why nobody checked the Maine Recycling overflow lot in Lisbon where Card’s body was eventually found Oct. 27, two days after Card opened fire on innocents at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille.

Roy said two tactical teams went to the company’s property after a tip came in that Card might go there. They searched the building and the trailers around it, he said.

But nobody looked at the Maine Recycling trailers in the overflow lot across the street, he said, because “they were not asked to.”

Roy said he didn’t know about the other lot until Friday afternoon, more than 18 hours after Card vanished. Someone in the overall incident command center asked him about it, Roy said, and later in the day officers checking the trailers found Card’s body.

The commission is looking into many aspects of the shooting, from what happened at each of the venues to how the police dealt with Card in the months before the shootings. Friday’s session at Lewiston City Hall dug into the communications angle throughout the incident.

It is unclear when the commission will wrap up its work or what its final report might say.

Ross said state police leaders are planning to conduct their own study after the commission finishes its work, so they can address any issues raised. He said, though, that internal changes have already been made to improve some areas.

Ross said one thing he found especially helpful during the incident was the creation of the Family Assistance Center to work directly with victims and their families.

The center, he said, “was one of the brighter lights in this operation.”

“They knocked it out of the park,” Ross said.

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