Another PTSD Iraq Veteran Killed By Police During Standoff

Fiancee believes Edgell fired at officers to end own life
Times Daily
By Bernie Delinski Staff Writer
October 7, 2015

Tiffany Braitling, left, said she thought fiancee Eric Edgell

suffered from PTSD after his military stints in the Middle East.

TUSCUMBIA — The last time Tiffany Braitling spoke with Eric David Edgell, he was upset about the fact his work schedule afforded little time to see her.

But Braitling said many more things were troubling her fiance, who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, stemming from his U.S. Army service in the Middle East.

“I knew he’s had depression and anxiety and PTSD,” Braitling said.

In the end, she believes Edgell’s distress was too much for him to cope with and led to Sunday’s incident in which Edgell held a handgun to his head on the Tennessee Valley Authority Reservation.

Police tried to talk with Edgell, but he turned the gun on the officers and fired shots, according to reports. Police returned fire, striking Edgell, who died later that day at Shoals Hospital in Muscle Shoals.

Braitling said she believes Edgell’s emotional state at that moment was compounded by the realization he had landed himself in such trouble.

“I think he did it on purpose, to be honest, because he knew if he fired at them, then they’d have to fire back,” she said. “I don’t think he wanted to go to prison. If he had, he’d have ended up killing himself within a week.”

“We didn’t really talk about it much, because it upset him so much,” Braitling said. “The only time we had talked about it and he could actually tell me anything, he told me he was taking some supplies somewhere with other Humvees and this friend he had gone through everything with — boot camp and all — they went over a mine and it blew up and he saw his friend’s head roll down his back.”
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