Robert Card Believed People at Shooting Sites Were Talking About Him

The alleged gunman behind the mass shooting that killed at least 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday previously complained that he heard people talking negatively about him at the shooting sites.

Police have since identified 40-year-old Robert Card as a suspect in the shooting, according to the Associated Press. Card is a firearms instructor and U.S. Army reservist assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. He began acting erratically in mid-July after struggling with a suspected mental health crisis. Many law enforcement agencies are searching for Card, who fled after the shootings. Police warned that Card should be considered armed and dangerous.

The shootings occurred at the Schemengees Bar and Grill restaurant and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley. The places are about 4 miles apart.

Card's sister-in-law Katie Card told The Daily Beast that Card has struggled with a mental health episode in the past year and told his family that people at public locations, including Sparetime Recreation bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grill, were speaking poorly about him. Card had recently started wearing powerful hearing aids to help with hearing loss, according to the report.

"He truly believed he was hearing people say things," Katie Card said. "This all just happened within the last few months."

When Card's family members told him that the voices weren't real, he responded angrily.

"We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him," Katie Card said. "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."

Police have not yet discussed if there was a motive behind the shootings. Katie Card said the family has been texting Card and urging him to turn himself in, although it remains unclear if Card has read the text messages.

Newsweek attempted to contact Katie Card by phone for comment but was unsuccessful in reaching her.

A statement from the Maine State Police revealed that Card spent several weeks at a mental health facility during the summer, although it remains unclear what Card's condition and treatment was. The statement shared that Card was last seen wearing brown clothing and holding a high-powered assault-style rifle. He also was reportedly driving a 2013 white Subaru Outback.

A police active shooter bulletin describes Card as a trained firearms instructor thought to be in the Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, who had "recently reported mental health issues including hearing voices" and threatened to "shoot up" the National Guard base in Saco, Newsweek previously reported.

The shootings have sparked wild conspiracy theories about Card as well as reignited discussions and opinions regarding gun laws.