A single bullet ended the 5 hour standoff after years of service

Veterans Surviving Combat Unable to Survive Police?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 28, 2014

There have been far too many cases across the country of Police vs Veterans leaving veterans dead instead of helped and police officers struggling after pulling the trigger.

Police in Las Cruces New Mexico have just identified the officer who shot Army Sgt. William Smith. A single bullet ended the 5 hour standoff.

We can keep asking why it is happening but the answer is already right in front of us.

Smith's father said he'd have moments of uncontrollable fits of anger. ABC-7 spoke with a doctor with the Ft. Bliss restoration and resilience center, she says one of the very first steps in treatment is recognizing that you have PTSD.

The doctor said it's not a one size diagnosis, it's like cancer, there's different treatments, different levels of severity. The treatments are not easy, there is no magic pill, she added.

What good does it do to acknowledge you have PTSD when you do not get what you need to heal it? Do they ever answer that question?

In July a Kentucky National Guardsman Justin Neil Davis was killed after going for help.

Germantown Police describe scene that led up to vet's shooting death
Members of GPD’s Crisis Intervention Team got to the park at 9:50 p.m. but, despite their attempt to talk with Davis over a loudspeaker and by cellphone, he threatened to shoot at them and “made statements about killing himself.” He asked them to turn off their bright lights.

Then Davis pointed the barrel of the rifle out the passenger side window toward police. Three officers opened fire, hitting Davis multiple times.

When the ambulance got to the park at 10:05 p.m., he was dead.

Davis, a veteran of the Kentucky National Guard, had served two tours in Iraq, the most recent ending in 2012, according to guard records.

Before his fatal encounter with police, Davis struggled with alcohol abuse and was released from a 30-day rehabilitation program in September, according to divorce papers filed by his wife in October. His father, a Navy veteran, died in February. By March, Davis was without a job.

Vallandinghan said Davis had an appointment at the Memphis VA Medical Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to have an MRI on his back, and that while he was there, told VA staff he was having suicidal thoughts.

After leaving, Vallandinghan said, he texted friends and family to say goodbye.

Jacinto Zavala, was killed by police in Colorado at the age of 21. "Possibly" suicidal Iraq war veteran dead after officer-involved shooting in Wichita, KS and the list goes on all over the country and all over years of veterans being told what the first step is without any followup.

But it isn't just young veterans being failed. It happens to older veterans too.

It happened in 2011

A 50-year-old Gresham man who was killed in a confrontation with police was a career serviceman who spent the last two years trying to raise money and respect for veterans.

Anthony L. McDowell, an active member of the U.S. Army Reserves and the founder of a nonprofit supporting veterans, was killed outside his home in the 24000 block of Southeast Oak Street in Gresham on Monday evening.

Officer John Rasmussen, spokesman for Gresham police, said McDowell's wife, Teresa, called police right before 7 p.m., saying her husband was suicidal.

"Prior to our arrival, a family member had already taken a weapon away from him," Rasmussen said. "He did rearm himself with a rifle."

Two Portland police officers fired 12 gunshots at Thomas Higginbotham on Jan. 2 when they say the homeless man inside an abandoned Southeast Portland car wash walked toward them holding a knife with an 8-inch blade.

Higginbotham, 67, was struck 10 times and died from wounds to the chest and abdomen, according to grand jury records released Friday

It happened in 2010

A Baldwin police officer shot Edward Zevola Sr., 61, at his home Tuesday night on Songo Street, a quiet hilltop enclave of two-story homes and swimming pools above Streets Run Road.

Police said Zevola's wife called them about 9 p.m. to say the two argued and Zevola threatened her with a gun. She told police she feared he was suicidal or willing to kill someone.

Scott said Zevola was in and out of psychiatric treatment at the VA hospital for the past year.

What is worse is that it has been happening for decades. It is still happening during a time when there has never been more claims made about what is being done to help them. Astonishing.