PTSD:NY ex-cop suffered after 9-11 and had unloaded gun

9/11 stress cited in ex-cop's NY school melee case


By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 16, 2009; 2:02 PM

NEW CITY, N.Y. -- The former New York City policeman who stormed into a suburban middle school with a gun had to sort through body parts after 9/11 and suffers from post-traumatic stress, his attorney said Tuesday.

Defense lawyer Gerard Damiani spoke after the former officer, Peter Cocker, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Rockland County Court. Cocker, 37, of Tappan, is charged with kidnapping, burglary, coercion and gun crimes.

Police say Cocker stormed past a security guard at South Orangetown Middle School in Blauvelt last Tuesday, locked himself in an office with district Superintendent Ken Mitchell and threatened to shoot him in the heart. Police learned later that Cocker's revolver was unloaded.

As police were called and the school went into lockdown, Mitchell tried to talk Cocker into giving up the gun, then tackled and disarmed him, police said.
go here for more
9/11 stress cited in ex-cop's NY school melee case