Fort Worth veteran shot by SWAT Team had PTSD

Man fatally shot by Fort Worth police was Army veteran in constant pain, family says

Star Telegram
BY MITCH MITCHELL
JUNE 07, 2019

Cody Seals turned toward an officer, still locked out in a shooting stance, and pointed the light at him, which was later determined to be a flashlight, police said. Believing officers were about to be fired upon, a SWAT officer fired his weapon.

FORT WORTH
Sometimes the battles soldiers fight after they return from war are the most unforgiving, the family members of a man police killed last weekend said.

Cody Wayne Seals served in the U. S. Army between 2004 and 2008, doing more than one tour in Iraq, his mother, Sandra Seals, said.

Between 2008 and now, she got sick, her son got sick and he moved in with his father, she said.

A Fort Worth Police Department SWAT officer shot and killed Cody Seals, 38, on the evening of June 1 after a three-hour standoff at his home.
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Before it gets to the point where veterans are facing off with Police Officers, which many of them are also veterans, isn't it time that veterans actually got the message they have been needing to hear? #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife so you can heal and be happier!

With all the repulsive raising of awareness that suicides are happening...we need to remember that message is not healing. Veterans already know how to kill themselves. What they do not know is why they should stay alive!

Tribute to Desert Storm Marines Painted Over!

Property Owner Paints Over Deep Ellum Mural Depicting U.S. Marines
NBC DWF 5 News
By Cory Smith
Jun 29, 2018

The mural depicted a group of U.S. Marines in Desert Storm. The group is standing in a circle with a large American flag in the background watching a soldier break dance.

In Deep Ellum, murals are more than works of art, they're part of the community's story.

"This is our way of communicating, our way of expressing ourselves," said local artist Preston Pannek.

On Friday Pannek felt like a piece of that story was erased when the mural he worked tirelessly to paint on a wall outside the Green Room was covered up with black paint.

Neighborhood residents and artists are outraged.

The building is owned by Westdale. Pannek called Friday to find out why it was covered and said he spoke with a the property manager.

"Right off the bat he was extremely rude and said 'It's gone. There is nothing I can do about it,'" said Pannek.

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PTSD on Trial: Prosecutors won't seek death penalty in Chris Kyle murder trial

Erath prosecutors won’t seek death penalty in SEAL sniper slaying
Star Telegram
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
October 31, 2014

Erath County prosecutors will not ask for the death penalty for an Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and a friend at a gun range in February 2013.

Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash filed paperwork Thursday saying that his office will seek a sentence of life without parole for Eddie Routh of Lancaster.

Routh’s capital murder trial has been set for Feb. 9 in 266th state District Court in Stephenville.

Defense attorneys have said that they will use an insanity defense for Routh, 27.

State District Judge Jason Cashon imposed a gag order in the case that prohibits prosecutors and defense attorneys from commenting.

Routh is accused of shooting Chris Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, both of Midlothian, on Feb. 2, 2013, at the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge, an upscale resort outside Glen Rose in Erath County. The lodge is about 77 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Area police reports documented Routh’s mental problems well before the killings at the gun range.
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Firefighters Shower Plane of Army Reservist Back from Afghanistan

UPDATE
Video: Firefighter welcomed home from Afghanistan deployment
Firefighters took up donations to send him packages with special treats and even a fire department flag to remind him of home
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

DALLAS — Arlington firefighter Ryan Pugh, a specialist in the Army Reserve, received a wet welcome home Thursday after a nearly year-long deployment in Afghanistan.

In a “shower of affection,” fire engines shot sprays of water over the top of Pugh’s plane moments before it pulled into a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, where family, friends and fellow firefighters gathered to celebrate his long-awaited arrival.

After reuniting with his fiancée, his parents and his older brother, Pugh said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many of his Arlington Fire Department friends and colleagues also waiting for him with hugs and handshakes.
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Arlington firefighters welcome home one of their own from Afghanistan
Star Telegram
BY SUSAN SCHROCK
September 18, 2014

DFW AIRPORT — Arlington firefighter Ryan Pugh, a specialist in the Army Reserve, received a wet welcome home Thursday after a nearly yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.

In a “shower of affection,” fire engines shot sprays of water over the top of Pugh’s plane moments before it pulled into a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, where family, friends and fellow firefighters gathered to celebrate his long-awaited arrival.

After reuniting with his fiancee, his parents and his older brother, Pugh said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many of his Arlington Fire Department friends and colleagues also waiting for him with hugs and handshakes.

“I missed those guys terribly. I’m overwhelmed by it,” said Pugh, who served in Kabul with the 302nd Military Police Company. “I definitely feel the love and support.”

Arlington firefighters regularly took up donations to send Pugh care packages with treats such as Crystal Light drink mix packets and Oreo cookies, even a Fire Department flag to remind him of home.
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Washington Navy Yard Day From Hell

Live updates: Navy Yard shooter 'had a pattern of misconduct'
LA Times
By Richard Simon, David S. Cloud and Brian Bennett
September 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — The 34-year-old former Navy electrician’s mate identified as the gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard had been discharged from the service in 2011 after multiple disciplinary infractions, a Navy officer said Monday.

Aaron Alexis “had a pattern of misconduct,” the official said.

Law enforcement officials have identified Alexis as the shooter who went on a two-hour rampage at the sprawling naval base in Washington, but have not yet said what they believe was his motive.

Alexis, a native of New York, who served in the Navy from 2007 to 2011 as an aviation electrician’s mate 3rd class, entered the base early Monday morning, authorities said, perhaps using another man’s identification card to pass through the gates.

Once inside, officials said, he headed for the massive Building 197, the headquarters of the Navy Sea Systems Command. Armed with three weapons, including an AR-15 assault rifle, he went to the building’s fourth floor, according to officials. About 8:15 a.m., according to witness accounts and police dispatch recordings, the gunman began shooting down into a crowded atrium that houses an employee cafeteria.

Washington police and Navy security officials engaged in “multiple” exchanges of fire with Alexis over the next two hours, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters, eventually shooting and killing him.

From 2008 until his discharge in 2011, Alexis was a member of an aviation support squadron based in Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked on C-40s, a military version of the Boeing 737 that the Navy uses as a cargo plane. Law enforcement officials said that he was more recently working as a military contractor. read more here

13 killed in Navy Yard shooting rampage
Dead suspect identified
CNN
By Barbara Starr. Catherine E. Shoichet and Pamela Brown
updated 5:02 PM EDT, Mon September 16, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: DC mayor: "We don't have any reason at this stage to suspect terrorism"
13 people now are confirmed dead in the shooting
The FBI seeks the public's help tracking down information about the suspect
Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor, is the dead suspect, the FBI says

Washington (CNN) -- The FBI has identified the dead suspect in Monday's shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard as Aaron Alexis, 34, a military contractor from Texas.

The suspect was positively identified using fingerprints and ID, the Washington FBI Field Office said, asking members of the public for assistance tracking down information about Alexis.

"No piece of information is too small," said Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of the office.

"We are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movements, his contacts and associates."

Authorities said at least 13 people -- including the suspect -- were killed and about a dozen others were injured in the shooting, which put government buildings on lockdown and sent police SWAT teams rushing to the scene.

Witness: "He aimed his gun at us" and fired

Maintenance worker tried to warn others in D.C. Navy Yard rampage

Timeline of Navy Yard shooting developments

Commander saw man shot in head

Texas Police Officer, Deputy Shot; Suspect Killed

Sad update

AP: Hood County deputy dies of gunshot wound
Weatherford Democrat
By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press
June 29, 2013

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A Hood County sheriff's deputy died Saturday, a day after being shot by a man who was later killed by police.

Hood County Sheriff's Sgt. Lance McLean died at the John Peter Smith Hospital on Saturday in Fort Worth, Sheriff Roger Deeds said.

McLean was shot in the head by Ricky Don McCommas, 49, when responding to a disturbance call at a home near Granbury about 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Lonny Haschel said Friday.

"Everybody's having a tough time dealing with it," Deeds said. He said McLean was married and had two children.
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Texas Police Officer, Deputy Shot; Suspect Killed
Officer.com
BILL HANNA AND BILL MILLER
SOURCE: FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
CREATED: JUNE 28, 2013

The suspect reportedly had an assault-style rifle and dozens of shell casings were found at the scene

GRANBURY, Texas -- Two law enforcement officers were wounded and a suspect was fatally shot Friday morning in an incident that ended near Granbury City Hall.

A Hood County Sheriff's deputy was flown to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth and a Granbury police officer was transported to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. Their conditions were not known.

Details were sketchy, but the incident apparently started during a traffic stop in the Oak Trail Shores trailer park -- just outside of Granbury -- where a deputy was shot, according to the Hood County News.
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Couple pleads guilty killing Vietnam veteran and stuffing him in refrigerator

Couple pleads guilty to killing Arlington man, stuffing him in refrigerator
Posted Monday, Apr. 08, 2013
Star Telegraph
BY DEANNA BOYD

FORT WORTH -- A couple who bound and killed a Vietnam veteran inside his Arlington home in 2011, then stuffed the man's body into his own refrigerator and dumped it in Ellis County, pleaded guilty Monday to murder.

In exchange for their pleas, Thomas Dunham was sentenced to 45 years in prison and Erin Williams to 30 years. They entered their pleas in State District Judge Robb Catalano's court.

Williams, who also went by the last name of Guthrie, had been staying with the victim, Jerry Vern Roberts, before the 62-year-old man's disappearance in May 2011.

When Roberts failed to show up at work at his nephew's trucking business, concerned relatives went to his home on West Sanford Street where they found sheets covering the windows, the refrigerator and Robert's truck missing, and what appeared to be blood on their uncle's chair.
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Navy veteran writes names of 2,200 killed servicemembers from memory

Navy veteran writes names of 2,200 killed servicemembers from memory
by TODD UNGER
WFAA
Posted on February 28, 2013

FORT WORTH -- Close to 7,000 words and more than 2,200 names later, Ron White finally did it.

The U.S. Navy veteran recorded the names of the military fallen from Afghanistan on a makeshift wall in downtown Fort Worth on Thursday. And he did it all from memory.

"I have pictures in my mind for each name," said White, who served one tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2007.
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National Guardsman Demoted by Lockheed Martin After Deployment

Veteran says Lockheed demoted him after deployment
Posted Friday, Nov. 23, 2012
Star Telegram
BY BOB COX

FORT WORTH -- Capt. Gary Ward shipped off to Afghanistan with his Army National Guard unit in April 2011, confident that after returning from active duty he could return to his job at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

A 16-year Army and National Guard veteran, Ward had worked at Lockheed's Fort Worth division since 2005 as a buyer on the F-35 program.

Lockheed, which has hundreds of employees deploy for active service each year, had always supported Ward's military commitments, including leaves for training. He was given his job back in 2009 after he returned from a yearlong tour in Iraq.

But not this time. When he showed up for work on June 4, Ward says, he had no desk, telephone or computer, and no duties. No one had a plan for what he was supposed to do.

"I walked in the first day and they didn't welcome me back, they didn't say anything. They pointed to an empty cubicle and told me to sit there," Ward said.

After discovering that the accounts he previously handled had been permanently assigned to other buyers, Ward asked the department supervisor what he was to do.

"He just shrugged his shoulders and walked off," said Ward. "They had six weeks notice I would be returning and they had done nothing to prepare to take me back."

That wasn't the reception Ward expected from the largest U.S. defense contractor, a company that routinely runs patriotism-rich television commercials that end with the tag line, "We Never Forget Who We're Working For." After eventually being reassigned to a lesser job, he decided to resign.

Ward, 45, is a divorced father of two daughters, Allyson, 5, and Samantha, 7. His marriage fell apart from the strain of the 2008-09 Iraq deployment, Ward said. Now the Afghanistan employment cost him his job with Lockheed.
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Fort Worth Mom 'let her toddler die because she was too depressed about her husband's deployment'

This is a very sad story just when you read about the children but when you read what else was going on, how this Mom tried to commit suicide and asked for help, there are a lot of people tied into all of this.

'I just got tired of always changing the sheets': Military mom, 21, 'let her toddler die because she was too depressed about her husband's deployment'
Tiffany Klapheke, 21, charged with three felony counts of injury to a child after her 22-month-old daughter died
Autopsy found daughter lacked basic care and was dehydrated and covered in chemical burns
At time of death, child weighed only 17.5 pounds
Klapheke admitted that she should have taken better care of her daughter
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
1 September 2012

Felonies: The young mother is charged with three felony counts of injury to a child in connection with her 22-month-old daughter's death and the severe neglect of her two other daughters

She also said she tried committing suicide three weeks ago but a friend stopped her.
'I'm so just stressed out and depressed, and I just need help taking care of them, and I don't have any help,' she told the station.

A Texas woman who claims her military husband's deployment overseas left her too stressed to care for their three young children, one of whom died, remained jailed Friday in connection with their alleged neglect.

Tiffany Nicole Klapheke is charged with three felony counts of injury to a child in connection with her 22-month-old daughter's death and the severe neglect of her two other daughters, ages six months and three years, Abilene police said.

Her toddler suffered from dehydration and malnutrition from a lack of basic care over a period of time, according to the preliminary autopsy report from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Worth.

Klapheke, 21, remained in the Taylor County Jail in Abilene with bonds totalling $500,000. She does not yet have an attorney, according to jail records.

The report also shows that the toddler weighed only 17.5 pounds and her body had chemical burns, indicating the child was exposed to human waste.

The toddler died at an Abilene hospital after being found unresponsive at her Dyess Air Force Base home Tuesday.

The woman's two other daughters were treated for severe neglect at a children's hospital in Fort Worth, about 150 miles east of Abilene. They were to be taken out of intensive care soon, Abilene police said.
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Body of corpsman killed in Afghanistan is returned to Weatherford

AP Transfer cases containing the remains of Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Clayton R. Beauchamp, left case, and Army Spc. Ethan J. Martin, right case, sit on a loader Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Beauchamp, of Weatherford, Texas, died Aug. 7, 2012 when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in Helmand province, Afghanistan and Martin, 22, of Lewiston, Idaho, died Aug. 7, 2012 in Koragay, Paktia province, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when he encountered enemy small-arms fire. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark) ORG XMIT: DESR107

STAR-TELEGRAM/RON T. ENNIS Base personell and families line the street on Naval Air Station Fort Worth on Wednesday August 15, 2012 to welcome Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Clayton R. Beauchamp, 21, who was killed in Afganistan. (Star-Telegram/Ron T. Ennis)

Body of corpsman killed in Afghanistan is returned to Weatherford
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012
BY CHRIS VAUGHN
Star Telegram

FORT WORTH -- Navy corpsman Clayton R. Beauchamp's body returned to his hometown Wednesday, escorted by a long procession of vehicles and motorcycles and saluted along the roads by hundreds of service members, police and firefighters.

Beauchamp, 21, a petty officer third class who was killed by a roadside bomb Aug. 7 while on patrol in Afghanistan, will be buried Saturday at Memory Gardens of the Valley Memorial Park in Weatherford.

The funeral is at 2 p.m. Saturday at North Side Baptist Church in Weatherford.

The casket was flown from Dover, Del., to Naval Air Station Fort Worth on Wednesday morning and was transferred by a Navy honor guard to a hearse.
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7 People Shot Dead In Texas Home

Christmas Shooting: 7 People Shot Dead In Texas Home, Motive Unclear By DANNY ROBBINS 12/26/11

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Investigators believe that seven people who were found dead Christmas Day were cleaning up holiday wrapping paper when they were shot inside a suburban Fort Worth apartment, but a motive remains unclear.

All of the victims appeared to be related, and Grapevine police said they believe the shooter was among the dead. Investigators were meticulously searching the apartment, along with three vehicles parked outside, and didn't expect to finish until dawn on Monday.

"It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling said, adding that the apartment was decorated for the holiday, including a tree. read more here

Fort Hood: Two Soldiers Die In Separate Incidents On Same Day

Fort Hood: Two Soldiers Die In Separate Incidents On Same Day
Two Army specialists assigned to Fort Hood died in separate incidents on the same day, the post said Thursday.

FORT HOOD (August 11, 2011)—Two Army specialists assigned to Fort Hood, both veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan died in separate incidents Monday, the post said Thursday.

Spc. Sarah Elissa Morris, 23, of Mansfield died Monday of injuries she received in a traffic accident in Fort Worth and Spc. Justin Wade Powell, 21, was found dead at a residence in his hometown of Gilmer, Fort Hood said.

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Vietnam Vet killed by hit and run driver

Fort Worth hit-and-run victim, 70, had just started new job to help ill wife

BY ALEX BRANCH
abranch@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- Jerry Winton was a Vietnam veteran, a strong, quiet man who rebuilt old cars and made providing for his family his top priority, his daughter said.

That's why the 70-year-old recently started a mechanical engineering job. His wife of 42 years has medical issues and, during the two years he was out of work, he paid about $1,000 a month for her health insurance.

"He was so happy to be working again," his daughter Cindy King said. "His whole life was about taking care of us."

Mr. Winton's family grieved Monday, two days after he was run over outside an east Fort Worth business. Police said that at 11 a.m. Saturday another driver backed his car into Mr. Winton's Chevrolet pickup in the parking lot of a doughnut shop in the 5600 block of Meadowbrook Drive, about four miles from his home.


Read more: Fort Worth hit-and-run victim

Tuesday execution date for former recruiter in Huntsville Texas

Tuesday execution date for former recruiter
By Michael Graczyk - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 4, 2011 19:44:50 EDT
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A condemned inmate moved closer to being the first person to be executed with Texas’ new drug cocktail after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday refused a petition to convert his sentence to life in prison and an appeals court rejected arguments prison officials improperly made the lethal drug swap.

Cleve Foster, 47, is scheduled to die Tuesday nine for the slaying of a Sudanese woman abducted and shot after she met Foster and another man at a Fort Worth bar nine years ago.

Foster would be the third Texas prisoner executed this year, but the first to die since the state switched from using sodium thiopental to pentobarbital in its lethal three-drug mixture. The switch resulted from a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental. Texas is the nation’s busiest death penalty state.

Foster’s attorneys claim Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials didn’t follow administrative procedures properly when they announced the drug change last month. But a state district judge rejected that argument last week and the 3rd Texas Court of Appeals in Austin upheld the ruling Monday. Lawyers said they would take their challenge Tuesday to the Texas Supreme Court.
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Tuesday execution date for former recruiter

Stolen Valor, Fake Marine Fakes way into Army as NCO

AP INVESTIGATION: Texas man faked way into Army
By DANNY ROBBINS (AP) – 5 hours ago

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas man with no military experience managed to trick the Army into letting him enter a reserve unit as a noncommissioned officer earlier this year, putting an untrained soldier in a leadership position in a time of war, an Associated Press investigation has found.

The revelation comes just months after the Army drew criticism for failing to flag the suspicious activities of the Army psychiatrist now charged with killing 13 and wounding dozens of others at Fort Hood.

The case, detailed in court records and other documents examined by the AP, raises more questions about the Army's ability to vet soldiers' backgrounds as it faces continued pressure from Congress over its screening and records system. While the soldier never deployed overseas, some say the case demonstrates how easily someone could pose as a member of the U.S. military.

Jesse Bernard Johnston III, 26, joined the Army Reserve in February as a sergeant and was assigned to the Corps Support Airplane Company based at the Fort Worth Naval Air Station. But he wasn't qualified to hold that rank, according to military records obtained by the AP. The records show that Johnston's only military experience was attending part of a 12-week Marine officer candidate course for college students in 2004.

Maj. Shawn Haney, spokeswoman for Marine Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said Johnston didn't complete the course's final six weeks. "He was never considered a Marine," she said.

The matter, currently under investigation by the Army, means a soldier received a security clearance and was in position to lead troops in combat even though he hadn't gone through basic training or spent any time in the service. The Corps Support Airplane Company has been deployed in Iraq, providing pilots as well as intelligence and support personnel for an aviation battalion set up to destroy improvised explosive devices.

If it's proven that Johnston gained his Army rank based on a phony Marine record, it would be the first documented case of so-called "stolen valor" in which the military was duped during the enlistment process, according to watchdogs of such fraud. Most cases involve attempts to get veterans' benefits or other forms of financial gain. Congress attempted to crack down on military impostors in 2005 by passing a law that makes it a crime to claim false decorations or medals.
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Texas man faked way into Army

Fort Hood Reservist and Iving Police Officer Kills Wife and Self

Irving police officer, wife found dead

WFAA-TV
Investigators say an Irving police officer murdered his wife while their two children were present in their Fort Worth home.

By DAVID SCHECHTER / WFAA-TV



WFAA-TV FORT WORTH — Investigators say an Irving police officer murdered his wife while their two children were present in their Fort Worth home.

Then, police say, the officer killed himself.

The officer was a 36-year-old Army reservist currently on active duty at Fort Hood.

Police were called to the 5300 block of Mineral Creek Drive shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday. A woman called police after finding the bodies of her sister and brother-in-law, police said.
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Names not being released until family members have been notified

A soldier shares his life after combat deployment

The more I read their stories, the more I am amazed with the human spirit of kindness in all of them. They want nothing of us when they tell their stories, except they may motivate us to take care of them, but more, that we take care of the other veterans like them. Inspiring.

A soldier shares his life after combat deployment
Bob Ray Sanders • Fort Worth Star-Telegram • July 30, 2008
It was a lost high-school class ring that eventually put me in touch with Mark Sewell, a 1980 graduate of Union High School in Tulsa, Okla.

The ring had been stolen in a burglary more than 12 years ago when Sewell lived in Wylie near Dallas, and it was found on the streets of Fort Worth about three years ago.

With the help of readers, we finally found the right Mark Sewell in Fredonia, Kan., and during our initial conversation it was clear that the Persian Gulf War veteran was still suffering from his experience in the U.S. Army.

I tried several times to get him to discuss his injuries, but he refused.

"I don't want to talk about it," he told me more than once.

I issued a final plea last week when I told him that I was planning a follow-up column about him getting the ring back.

Last Tuesday, in an e-mail message sent at 12:47 a.m. with "Insomnia as usual" as its subject, Sewell opened up, perhaps more than he has in years.

Here is that message in its entirety, which Sewell said he wrote to help other men and women returning from war.

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