By The Associated Press
POSTED: 04/10/15
ATLANTIC CITY
A veteran accused of shooting at Atlantic City police officers during a standoff is out of jail.
A judge is allowing 36-year-old Christopher Gerace to stay with his brother as long as he wears a monitoring bracelet while he awaits trial.
Gerace barricaded himself in the home in July and the standoff ended after he ran naked out the back door and was subdued.
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Police standoff in Atlantic City brings focus to veterans' problems
Press Of Atlantic City
By LYNDA COHEN Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
“Our family had put our faith in his commanders and they have failed him and us,” Gerace’s wife wrote in a June 2012 email to government officials. “I am not only concerned about our situation, but how you may continue to fail soldiers who need help in the future.”
ATLANTIC CITY — Christopher Gerace’s untreated post-military mental health issues could have been deadly, his family said.
The Army and Marine veteran barricaded himself inside his parents’ Chelsea Heights home late Tuesday, with a large collection of weapons and a insistence that he didn’t want to live.
With Gerace cursing at hostage negotiators and shooting at police, those on scene said they feared it would end in “suicide by cop.” Instead, about an hour and 45 minutes after the call came in, the Atlantic City native ran from his childhood home naked, and was taken into custody.
“Here’s a guy who goes in, eyes wide open and wants to serve his country, and comes out a battered individual, a hurting individual, and doesn’t know how to cope,” said Capt. Tim Friel, who helped talk Gerace out without anyone hurt.
It’s a prime example of the problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs and its lacking of service for suffering veterans, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, said Wednesday. Despite a bipartisan effort to fund services, the problems being uncovered daily are worse than the day before, he said.
“You can throw all the money at it you want, but if it’s not administered properly, the veterans are not going to get the help they need,” he said.
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