The family of shooting suspect Robert Card warned police and Army officials about his recent "acute" mental health decline, saying they were “concerned about his mental state” given his gun training, a sister-in-law told NBC News on Thursday.
Katie Card, married to Robert Card’s brother, told NBC News the family was getting “increasingly concerned” in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s shooting in Lewiston, Maine, where Robert Card is accused of gunning down 18 people at a bowling alley and bar.
“We just reached out to make sure everyone was on the same page because he is someone who does gun training,” Katie Card told NBC News. “We were concerned about his mental state,” adding her husband went “back and forth” with the Army about it.
The Army, which confirmed earlier Thursday that Robert Card is a petroleum supply specialist in the Reserve with more than two decades of experience, did not respond to NBC News regarding Katie Card’s assertion.
She declined to divulge, however, whether the family tried to intervene on his access to guns.
She said Robert Card began to deteriorate a couple of months ago upon getting high-powered hearing aids; he suffered from severe hearing loss.
“He was picking up voices that he had never heard,” she told NBC News. “His mind was twisting them around. He was humiliated by the things that he thought were being said,” adding that it turned into “manic belief.”
Further, Katie Card told NBC News that Robert Card had not previously experienced mental health issues.
However, The Associated Press, citing a U.S. official, reported Thursday that police took Robert Card to be evaluated this past July when military officials became concerned over his erratic behavior during training at West Point in New York.
State police took him to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point for evaluation, AP was told, adding that he had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.
Katie Card told NBC News that Robert Card has a son who has just graduated from high school.
“We don’t know this person. This is not him,” she said, referring to Robert. “We are so sorry for the pain he’s caused others."
Robert Card remains at large and is the subject of a massive manhunt.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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