Standoff veteran's family mourns loss

Standoff veteran's family mourns loss
Updated: Sunday, 01 Mar 2009

Oren Liebermann
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Before police officers surrounded the home of Marshall Franklin and a SWAT team moved in, all Franklin's family could do was watch.

The standoff ended with two officers shot and Franklin dead, a scenario, Franklin's family says that could have been avoided. That is, if they ever got a chance to talk to him.

"He was blocked off from every single thing that he knew," said his sister, Tony Franklin Dixon, "the people who loved him, the people who he trusted. He was not allowed to talk with us at all."

"He died thinking that his family neglected him, didn't care about him, and he was alone," added Juanita Ebron, one of his other sisters.

Franklin's nine brothers and sisters displayed pictures of the man who served two tours in Vietnam and had a penchant for painting and crafts. But when he came back from Vietnam, his family says he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"There were periods where he was fine and able to function at a full level," said his sister, Alberta Thomas, "but then there were periods where he needed to be on some type of medication."
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