Family of Accused Maine Shooter Says They’ve Been Texting Him, Urging Him to Surrender

The family of Robert Card, the accused Maine shooter, told CNN that they have been texting him and encouraging him to surrender to police, Pamela Brown reported on Thursday.

At least 18 people were killed and 13 wounded during a mass shooting at a restaurant and bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine Wednesday night. Card, a 40-year-old Army firearms instructor, is still at large and a wide-ranging manhunt is ongoing.

Brown reported during Thursday’s episode of CNN News Central that CNN had been communicating with Card’s brother, who told the network that the family “has actually been texting him, reaching out to him, telling him to surrender.”

“The brother is telling me that the family is doing everything they can to help police bring him into custody,” Brown continued.

“[We] have helped law enforcement in anyway possible…the police have been given anything that we can offer to facilitate their efforts…there are many people hurting out there, please focus on them…this is many people’s worst nightmare,” the brother wrote in a text message.

Card’s brother “would not confirm” if he had replied to the messages from his family, said Brown. The suspect’s sister-in-law also spoke to CNN, and said that Card “did not have a long history of mental health issues,” describing the shooting as “an acute episode.”

Former colleagues described him as a “skilled marksman,” and “one of the best shooters in his Army Reserve unit,” said Brown, and an “outdoorsman” who is “very comfortable in the woods.”

Brown noted that Card had experienced “some mental health issues” this summer. “He was in a training facility in upstate New York, he started hearing voices, expressing that he wanted to harm fellow soldiers. He was admitted to a mental health care facility for several weeks, and then released.”

“And then we know what has unfolded last night since then,” she said, adding that the terms of Card’s release from that mental health care facility were not yet confirmed.

Watch above via CNN.