LEWISTON, MAINE: Ryan Card, the brother of Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card, is urging the 40-year-old Army Reservist who is still at large to “do the right thing.”
Robert Card fled the scene after carrying out a mass rampage on Wednesday, October 25, that took the lives of at least 18 people and injured 13. A desperate manhunt is now underway to find the alleged shooter.
Ryan Card says family has ‘helped law enforcement in any way possible’
Ryan Card told CNN that the family is urging Robert to surrender to the police. However, he did not mention whether Robert has responded to their pleas.
Ryan informed CNN via text message, “(We) have helped law enforcement in any way possible.”
He also added, “The police have been given anything that we can offer to facilitate their efforts.”
Ryan Card continued, “There are many people hurting out there, please focus on them … this is many people’s worst nightmare.”
Robert Card’s sister-in-law urges him ‘to reach out and do the right thing’
Earlier in another interview, Robert Card’s sister-in-law Katie Card told The Daily Beast that the suspect “had an acute episode of mental health and it’s been a struggle,” adding that he was hearing voices.
Katie opened up to the news outlet on Thursday, October 26, “I have known Rob my whole life,” before adding, “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 and it’s been a struggle.”
Katie, who is married to Ryan Card, said, “He truly believed he was hearing people say things.” She added, "This all just happened within the last few months.”
Katie Card gave an insight into her brother-in-law’s mental health struggles as she said that he would “get mad” whenever they tried to tell him the voices were in his head. He also stayed in a facility for weeks due to his mental health issues.
Card recounted to the outlet, “Things have kind of gone downhill recently,” before adding, “We tried to listen to him and tell him that nobody was talking about him."
She continued, “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.”
Katie claimed Robert would probably be “disgusted” if he reflected on his deeds.
She said, “We know he is out there and he is a good person in his heart,” before continuing, “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,” she added.
Per The New York Times, Katie Card said the family has granted permission to the police “to sweep any and all properties on our family farm" in search of Robert Card.
