Maine shooting suspect Robert Card ‘truly believed he was hearing people say things’ about him at bowling alley, bar murder sites: family
Maine shooting suspect Robert Card was struggling with his mental health and claimed to family he overheard people talking about him at the bowling alley and bar where he is accused of opening fire Wednesday, according to his sister-in-law.
“He truly believed he was hearing people say things. This all just happened within the last few months,” Katie O’Neill, who is married to Card’s brother, told the Daily Beast Thursday.
“I have known Rob my whole life. He is quiet but the most loving, hardworking, and kind person that I know. But in the past year, he had an acute episode of mental health,” she added.
An arrest warrant for fugitive Card, 40, has been issued following the rampage at the Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston Wednesday night.
Authorities confirmed 18 people are dead and at least 13 injured following the shooting.
In the lead-up to the shooting,Card started using high powered hearing aids, O’Neill explained.
“He would get mad and claim that we didn’t believe him. We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him.
“Yesterday, as the story was unfolding, we prayed that Rob had nothing to do with this. But when we heard the two places where the shooting happened, my husband rushed home.”
Card – an Army Reservist who spent two weeks in a psychiatric facility this summer after reporting “hearing voices” – is currently facing eight counts of murder related to the shooting based on the bodies that have so far been identified, law enforcement confirmed at a press conference Thursday.
He has been unaccounted for for over 16 hours and is considered “armed and dangerous,” Col. William Ross of the Maine State Police cautioned.
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Residents in Lewiston, Auburn, and several surrounding cities are under a shelter-in-place order Thursday as the manhunt continues with the help of state and federal agencies.
Card’s loved ones are urging him to turn himself in, O’Neill told the Daily Beast.
“We know he is out there and he is a good person in his heart,” she insisted.
“After all of this, when he has time to reflect, he will be disgusted. We all want him to know that we love him and that we can handle things as a family.
“He just has to reach out and do the right thing.”
The number of charges against Card will likely increase once all 18 of the victims are identified, Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said.
