The household of the Army reservist accused of fatally shooting more than a dozen people in Lewiston, Maine, alerted police and navy officers that he was experiencing an “acute” psychological well being episode earlier than the Wednesday evening bloodbath, the suspect’s sister-in-law mentioned.

Robert Card, 40, a firearms teacher and longtime member of the Army Reserve, started to listen to voices that had been saying “horrible” issues about him a few months in the past when he was fitted for high-powered listening to aids, in keeping with Katie Card, who’s married to his brother.

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“He was picking up voices that he had never heard,” she advised NBC News. “His mind was twisting them around. He was humiliated by the things that he thought were being said.”

Katie Card mentioned the household did their greatest to reassure Robert Card that the feedback weren’t actual, together with by verifying with among the folks he claimed had made the remarks.

But, she mentioned, “it turned into a manic belief.”

“He was just very set in his belief that everyone was against him all of a sudden,” she mentioned.

Robert Card, who was nonetheless at massive early Thursday afternoon, is accused of killing a minimum of 18 folks and injuring many others at a bar and bowling alley, police mentioned.

His sister-in-law mentioned the household reached out to police and the Army Reserve base the place he serves as they “obtained more and more involved” in the last few weeks.

“We just reached out to make sure everyone was on the same page because he is someone who does gun training,” she said. “We were concerned about his mental state. That’s all.”

Her husband went “back and forth” with the Army, Katie Card said.

“They were following up on it, too, but he’s never been someone we thought would actually do anything,” she said.

The Army, which confirmed Robert Card’s status with the Reserve, did not immediately respond to a subsequent request for comment by NBC News about the family’s warning.

Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that Robert Card’s military unit commanders sent him to receive psychiatric treatment this summer after they became concerned about threats he made to the base and his claims that he was hearing voices.

Robert Card spent about two weeks undergoing in-patient psychiatric treatment and was released, according to the officials. It is not clear what further action was taken.

A Defense Department official said that Card’s unit requested law enforcement be contacted in July after he began behaving erratically. New York State Police responded and transported Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for medical evaluation.

Katie Card declined to discuss whether the family tried to restrict his access to firearms.

As officers headed to Maine to help with the manhunt, a note was found at Card’s home during the course of a search warrant being executed there, four senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News.

Right now, investigators are trying to determine the meaning of the note and how it could potentially guide their investigation, the officials say.

The weapon believed to have been used in the attack was a sniper rifle with .308 caliber bullets, and that it was purchased legally in 2023, officials said.

Card enlisted in the Army Reserve in December 2002 and had no combat deployments, an Army spokesperson said.

His sister-in-law said he had severe hearing loss likely due to being around constant gunfire. 

She said the family has been continuously messaging him to tell him he’s loved and that “he needs to do the right thing” but has not heard from him. 

Katie Card said her brother-in-law is a “wonderful person” and a great father to his son who just graduated high school. She said his behavior change was sudden and that he had not previously experienced mental health issues.

“We don’t know this person. This is not him,” she said. “We are so sorry for the pain he’s caused others.”