Jonathan Pears was killed by lingering ignorance of what PTSD is

If a veteran being shot and killed by police after being called by a family because he was in crisis, doesn't bother you, you are not thinking. If they have PTSD and need help, but end up being killed, the rest of us don't stand a chance either. 

There are millions of American joining the PTSD club every year and none of us want to belong to it, but when we are not getting the help we need when we are in crisis, it doesn't make the news. When veterans are killed, it does. 

Veterans do, and always have had my heart. I got into working with veterans 40 years ago and have not stopped, even though now my efforts are for everyone struggling after surviving. I am one of them. 

When you read the following story about Jonathan Pears being killed by police officers after his family tried to get him help, understand that it could be you or someone you love this happens to. If the police still don't understand how to respond to someone in mental health crisis, even with so many officers dealing with PTSD, the rest of us can very well end up with the same fate. We survive what happens to us and then, too many cannot survive what comes afterwards. We've been doing this for far too long to still be losing so many lives out of lingering ignorance.

Family of veteran with PTSD killed by Alabama deputy wants answers, new body camera law

Associzated Press
Published: Mar. 30, 2022

Born into a military family, Jonathan Pears had served first as an airman and then as a contractor in Afghanistan. When he returned, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, according to his father, retired Air Force Col. Andy Pears.

Andy and Mary Pears stand with a photo of their son by the memorial to him in the front yard of their home in Elmore County, Ala., on Nov. 5, 2021. Thirty-two-year-old Jonathan Pears was shot and killed by deputies on July 28, 2021. The couple said their son, a military veteran suffered PTSD and depression after returning from Afghanistan, and they called 911 seeking help for him during a mental health crisis. The Elmore County Sheriff's Office said Pears was holding a large knife and refused commands to drop it. His parents maintain deputies were a safe distance away and did not have to shoot their son. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)AP

When Mary Pears called 911 because her veteran son who had PTSD appeared to be having a mental health crisis, she had hoped to get him help and keep everyone safe.

Within minutes, 32-year-old Jonathan Pears was dead, fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in the front yard of his parents’ Alabama home.

“I wanted someone to talk him down. I wanted someone to come help us to get him calmed down. I absolutely did not want them to kill my son, nor did I ever think that would happen,” Mary Pears said.

The tragic end to their call for help didn’t have to happen, the family said. Now, they want changes in how officers respond to a mental health crisis and have filed a lawsuit accusing the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office of using excessive force.
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Mental Health Crisis calls cannot be solved with bullets

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

December 23, 2021

Why is it that people have no problem selecting someone to blame instead of knowing what is actually responsible? Mental Health Crisis calls cannot be solved with bullets.

Over and over again, we read news reports about police officers shooting someone after receiving a mental health crisis call. What we don't read is what comes afterwards. What happened to the family of the person in crisis? What happened to the officers responding?

The Concord Monitor just told the story of Meredith New Hampshire police officer Kevin O’Reilly after he received a call to respond to a man in crisis. The man was not a stranger to officer O'Reilly. He had responded because of the man "several times" before.

The article stated, "In New Hampshire, more than 60 percent of the people killed by police in the last decade struggled with mental illness, according to a Monitor analysis based on 10 years and more than 30 Attorney General reports."

 

Police are tasked with responding to mental crises. The results can be disastrous for officers and callers alike.

Concord Monitor
By TEDDY ROSENBLUTH
December 23, 2021

In New Hampshire, police officers, often not sufficiently trained on the intricacies of handling mental illness, are likely the first — and sometimes the only — response to those in a psychiatric crisis.

Last summer, Kevin O’Reilly sat around the Meredith police station with other officers and talked about a trend they noticed on the local news.

Stories of police shootings, specifically those that involved someone in a mental health crisis, seemed to pop onto the television every couple of months.

They listed off the recent ones: there was the middle-aged man shot in Belmont, about 16 miles south, whose parents said had been in and out of the psychiatric hospital for PTSD and bipolar disorder. About a year later, a 37-year-old man, who family members said struggled with delusions and paranoia for most of his adult life, was shot while running naked at a Thornton police officer about 20 miles to the north.

Every year, it seemed like more and more of O’Reilly’s job was consumed by mental illness. He estimated that on a typical night, three-quarters of his calls were to help someone in crisis.

“We’re not equipped or fully trained to deal with that,” he said. “We do our best: we try to talk softer and slower, bring them down. But we didn’t go to school for that.”
read more here

Sometimes the person has no one trying to help them. Others have family members facing their own turmoil, knowing someone they love needs help, but for whatever reason, the help they receive is not enough. Either way, families have to deal with the results and most of the time, they are unable to make peace with the fact they did the best they could with what they were not equipped to deal with.

For the officers involved, they may be able to come to terms with having to shoot a criminal easier than they can rationalize having to shoot someone who is only dangerous because their minds are sending them into the crisis the police had to respond to.

How many times does this have to happen before this nation actually comes to the conclusion that we have a mental health crisis in this country? January 9, 2020

Police officers opened fire on the man who was armed with a knife at about 10:22 p.m. at the Veterans Affairs Hospital at 4500 S. Lancaster Road. The man was at the hospital seeking psychiatric help, police said. At some point during the interaction, the man started to walk off and the VA officers followed him and tried to disarm him, according to the VA police. Their attempts to disarm him were unsuccessful and two officers opened fire, police said.

The worst thing of all is, police departments across the country are not taking mental health seriously in their communities or in the force itself. How do they expect officers trained to respond to criminals, suddenly become able to respond to people in crisis, when they cannot even respond to officers in crisis because of the jobs they do?

The only way is remember who is responsible for what. Officers are not trained to for mental health emergencies, anymore than psychologists are trained to deal with criminals. Knowing the limitations on humans will go a long way to changing the outcome.

Shooting at Dallas VA hospital left man dead after seeking psychiatric help last night

Man With Knife Shot and Killed at Veterans Affairs Hospital in Dallas: Police

NBC 5 News
Published 2 hours ago • Updated 1 hour ago

A man was shot and killed by Veterans Affairs officers at a hospital in Dallas Wednesday night, police said.

Police officers opened fire on the man who was armed with a knife at about 10:22 p.m. at the Veterans Affairs Hospital at 4500 S. Lancaster Road.

The man was at the hospital seeking psychiatric help, police said. At some point during the interaction, the man started to walk off and the VA officers followed him and tried to disarm him, according to the VA police. Their attempts to disarm him were unsuccessful and two officers opened fire, police said.
read it here

Marine veteran shot by police had been treated for PTSD

Gunman's family apologizes to victims

Rapid City Journal
Arielle Zionts
2 hrs ago

Camille said part of Patrick's job involved cleaning out military vehicles used in the Middle East and he told her that the blood and flesh sometimes found inside the vehicles made him get Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The family of the gunman in the Rapid City apartment shooting last Sunday apologized to the victims and said while their loved one was a Marine Corps veteran struggling with a myriad of mental health issues, it doesn't excuse his actions.

"We're very sorry" for what he did, Camille Alden said Friday while sitting next to a stack of her son's military and health records.

"Help is out there. He didn't take it," Wayne Alden said of his son, Patrick.

Camille, Wayne and one of Patrick's neighbors told the Journal that Patrick fired multiple rounds Friday afternoon in his second-floor apartment 851 East Minnesota St. in Rapid City.

The 29-year-old then went into the hallway where he fatally shot David Iron Horse, 64, according to a news release from the Rapid City Police Department. Patrick, who also shot toward officers and hit a police vehicle, was then fatally shot by an officer who came across him in a stairway, the release says.

Camille and Wayne said Patrick wasn't allowed to own guns due to an involuntary mental health commitment, but he would go to the shooting range with Wayne and he built a 9 mm handgun out of two different guns. They said that's the gun he used last Sunday, not a rifle like police said.

She went through papers from Patrick's July 2019 visit to the Albuquerque VA which found depression gave him a 70% disability, the migraines from his concussions gave him a 50% disability, a shoulder injury gave him a 20% disability, and an Achilles tendon injury gave him a 10% disability. The VA found that Patrick qualified for 100% disability pay and also took him off his anti-psychotic medication around this time, leaving him with anti-depressants.

read it here

Memorial Cross made its way back to widow of Marine veteran

Memorial cross returned to Marine Veteran's widow

ABC 10 News
Author: Giacomo Luca
August 24, 2019

A memorial cross at-risk of being removed due to construction has been returned to the widow of a U.S. Marine veteran through the help of a community member.

ANTELOPE, Calif. — A patriotically painted red, white, and blue cross with both stars and stripes was placed alongside Don Julio Boulevard in Antelope, California following the 2014 shooting death of Marine veteran Ryan Matthew Shannon.

Gina Schaeffer, who lives nearby, drove past it for the five years that it’s been there. She’d always pay respects as she drove past but says she never stopped.

“I always noticed that cross, and I’ve always wondered who it belonged to and what it was associated with,” Schaeffer said.

Recently, a construction project in that area grew close to where the cross was standing. Afraid it would be removed or bulldozed, she stopped and asked construction crews if she could bring it home, and they allowed her to do so. Afterward, she took to community pages on Facebook to seek out why the cross was there and who she should return it to.

“The minute I picked it up and felt the solidness and the heaviness of it and the well builtness (sic) of it, I just felt a really big emotional feeling that you know this was bigger than just finding the family. It needed to go back home,” Schaeffer said.
read it here

DA's office found police shooting of Iraq veteran in PTSD crisis "justified"

When exactly do we finally admit that all the awareness is useless and it is time to change what we are doing?

Madison County District Attorney’s Office finds fatal Huntsville police shooting was justified

WHNT 19 News
BY BRIAN LAWSON
JUNE 24, 2019

After her Army service in Iraq, Ragland spent time in a Kansas Army facility that helps wounded and ill soldiers transition to civilian life or continued Army service.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Madison County District Attorney's Office agrees with a Huntsville shooting review board in finding that the use of deadly force during a police encounter with an Army veteran suffering from PTSD was justified.

On Friday, a police review board determined the officers involved in the shooting acted within department policy.

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard told WHNT News 19 Monday that the evidence supports the board's finding.

"The investigator with the Huntsville Police Department met with us and laid out the case," Broussard said. "He showed us the evidence, including the body cams. It was clearly a justified shooting on the part of HPD. There will be no action on our part with respect to presentment to a grand jury, because it was clearly justified."

The fatal incident came after a call from the Stadium Apartments where Ragland lived. Police said they responded to a call of a woman waving a gun and making threats at Stadium Apartments. The woman, 32-year-old Crystal Ragland, served 17 months in the Iraq war and suffered from PTSD. That call proved to be a fatal and tragic collision.
read more here

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.
read more here

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!

Police body cam released in shooting death of 84 year old veteran

How a violent confrontation led to a military veteran's death

Local 10 News
By Amy Viteri - Investigative Reporter
April 30, 2019

Attorneys say apartment complex pushed fragile man over the edge

"He is a veteran. He has a disability of a visual problem," Harkow said on the call. "I would say he's grossly depressed because the apartment where he is living is evicting him. He told me he was going to kill his two dogs and himself."

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - It was a story that shocked a South Florida community last year: An elderly military veteran with a gun was shot down by police in a hail of bullets.

New body camera video given to Local 10 News showed how and why it happened, and how possible discrimination by the man's apartment complex could have contributed to his death.

"For the love of God, man, please put your hands up!" an officer can be heard shouting in exclusive body camera video obtained by Local 10 News.

The video details the desperate standoff between Miami-Dade police officers and 84-year-old Raymond Bishop. Bishop, a disabled military veteran, was threatening to shoot himself inside his apartment.

"I do not want to hurt you," said one officer. "Sir you are a veteran. You are a hero to us. Please do not do this!"

The video is from February 2018, after a 911 call from Bishop's social worker Jaye Harkow with the Department of Veteran Affairs, brought officers to the Hidden Grove apartments near Homestead.
read more here

Veteran with PTSD shot by police, refused to get help

Madera police identify man shot and killed: Had PTSD, left officers no options, chief says

The Fresno Bee
By Jim Guy
February 08, 2019

The chief said Novak refused to get treatment from the Veterans Administration hospital. Neighbors and friends urged Novak to get help, to no avail.

A Madera man shot and killed by police Thursday night was a U.S. Navy veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who left an officer no option when he advanced with a knife, Chief Dino Lawson said Friday afternoon.

He was identified as Michael Robert Novak, 59.

“It’s very sad, on so many levels,” Lawson said.

The incident took place about 10:15 p.m. on the Cleveland Avenue exit from northbound Highway 99. 

A police spokesman described the chain of events: The driver of another vehicle was involved in a possible DUI collision with Novak. 

When a police officer arrived and tried to contact Novak, he refused to get out of his car. 

Then, Novak pulled out a large knife, became aggressive and refused orders to drop the weapon before getting out and charging the officer. 

The officer retreated, again commanded Novak to drop the knife and fired several rounds when Novak continued to advance. 

Novak died from gunshot wounds at the scene.
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After veteran was shot by police, family takes police to court

Family of veteran shot and killed by Eugene Police seeks to take civil case to jury trial

KVAL 13 News
by Alex Hasenstab and KVAL.com Staff December 3, 2018

EUGENE, Ore. - Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm.

Forty minutes after police arrived, an officer said Babb pointed a rifle at him.

Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm. An officer shot and killed Babb less than an hour later. (SBG/File)

EUGENE, Ore. - Eugene Police responded to the home of Brian Babb on March 30, 2015, after his counselor called dispatchers and said she was afraid the veteran - suffering from PTSD - was going to harm himself with a firearm.

Forty minutes after police arrived, an officer said Babb pointed a rifle at him.

After demanding Babb drop his weapon, the officer fired a fatal shot.

The district attorney determined officers were justified in using deadly force.

Babb's family had a different reaction.

"We knew right away that something was seriously amiss," said Stephanie Babb, Brian's sister.

The family filed a civil suit, seeking monetary damages against the officers involved and the city.
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Suicidal veteran lost lawsuit against Tampa Police

Man loses suit against Tampa police after being shot in face during attempted suicide call

Tampa Bay Times
Anastasia Dawson
Times Staff
November 24, 2018

A Tampa real estate agent’s four-year legal battle against the city of Tampa and its police department came to an end last week, when a jury sided with the officer who shot him twice in the face during a call meant to prevent his suicide.

Jason and Amanda Turk pose with their three daughters (from left) Emily, 12, with daughters Emily, 12, Anabel, 3, and Adeline, 5. [Courtesy of Jason Turk]

The federal lawsuit Jason Turk filed in August 2014 claimed that the city and then-Chief Jane Castor failed to provide the necessary de-escalation and crisis intervention training required for officers to successfully answer calls for help involving the mentally ill.

“I want the Tampa Police Department to take crisis intervention training more seriously and implement it into their training the way the (Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office) and countless police departments across the country do," Turk, 42, told the Tampa Bay Times. "It is an important component of policing because most calls into police involve some sort of mental health crisis. Not every call is about chasing down a bad guy."

One call for help came from Turk's wife, Amanda, in the early morning of Jan. 9, 2014. Turk, an 11-year Navy veteran, had become estranged from his wife and was suffering from severe depression. He was drinking heavily that night when he recorded himself reading aloud from a suicide note and sent the video to his wife, who then called 911.

She told the operator her husband was threatening to kill himself, and added a crucial detail: “He knows if cops come and he won’t put down the gun that they’ll shoot him,” she can be heard telling the operator in a recording of the 911 call. The police classified the call a “suicide by cop.”

It still haunts her, she said.

Turk admits he had a pistol in his lap when K-9 Officer Timothy Bergman spotted him sitting in his car as it idled in the driveway of the Tampa Heights home where Turk moved during a trial separation from his wife. But Turk insists the only person ever threatened by the weapon was himself.
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Veteran called crisis line, shot and killed by police

Veteran called crisis hotline, pointed gun at police, was killed by officer, Houston police say

Click 2 Houston News
Megan Kennedy
Brittany Taylor
October 27, 2018

Carroll had served in the military for four or five years and suffered from PTSD, his father-in-law told KPRC. Carroll leaves behind a 16-month-old child. 

HOUSTON - A man was shot and later died after pointing a gun at Houston police officers, the department said.

The suspect, identified by family members as a veteran, had initially called a veterans' crisis hotline for assistance, the family said. The man told the crisis hotline that he had cut himself and was armed with a gun. Houston police confirmed the department received the routed 911 call from a U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs Crisis hotline.

The man has been identified as 30-year-old Christopher Carroll.

After receiving the 911 call, investigators responded to the man's home on Eagle Creek Drive around 12:45 a.m. Saturday.

When they arrived, they located a family member attempting to calm Carroll down, said Matt Slinkard, an assistant executive chief with the special operations command with the Houston Police Department. Family members of Carroll told police he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was currently experiencing a crisis.
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Navy Veteran Postal Employee Lost Life Breaking Up Fight

Man Killed By Armed PSU Officers Had Valid Concealed Carry Permit
OPB
by Ericka Cruz Guevarra
June 30, 2018

Washington was a Navy veteran and an employee with the United States Postal Service since 1998. He worked with the collections unit as a letter carrier at the main office in downtown Portland, where he also served as the union shop steward.

Keyaira Smith, who filmed the encounter, told OPB that Washington was "trying to be a good Samaritan."

Jason Erik Washington, the man killed by armed Portland State University officers early Friday morning, had a valid concealed carry permit at the time of his death.

Two of Washington’s colleagues and at least one witness say Washington, 45, was black.

Keyaira Smith, a witness who took video of the moments leading up to Washington’s death, told OPB that he was “trying to be a good Samaritan” by breaking up a fight.

Video footage shows what appears to be a black object attached to Washington’s right side as he’s seen pulling one man off another. Two PSU police officers can also be seen.

“The gun slipped out of the holster when he had fallen, and I think he may have tried to retrieve it,” Smith said. “Then they said ‘gun.’”

That’s when police fired, she said.
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Korean War veteran facing eviction over service dogs shot by police

Armed veteran, facing eviction over his service dogs, shot to death by police
Miami Herald
BY CHARLES RABIN AND DAVID OVALLE
February 12, 2018

A despondent military veteran — slated for eviction because of complaints about his service dogs, Roxie and Ranger — was shot to death after police say he pointed a gun at officers on Monday afternoon near Homestead.

Jonathan Rodriguez, a friend of Korean War veteran Raymond Bishop, said the 84-year-old Bishop was upset about a pending eviction. Police shot Bishop on Monday after being called to his apartment on a report of an armed man threatening suicide.
Charles Rabin crabin@miamiherald.com

Raymond Bishop, 84, died inside his home at the Hidden Grove apartments. Miami-Dade police officers had rushed to the home after receiving a call of an armed man threatening to kill himself.

At least four Miami-Dade officers wound up opening fire on Bishop from just outside the doorway where he stood, gun in hand — but only after pleading with him extensively to put his weapon down, law-enforcement sources told the Miami Herald. One officer even praised Bishop’s military background in an attempt to get him to surrender peacefully.

The dogs were inside the apartment and were not harmed, one source said.

Bishop, who served in the Korean War, was upset about the apartment complex’s eviction attempt, according to a neighbor. Bishop lived there, according to court records, under a Miami-Dade County government subsidy program.

“They were throwing him out. He had nowhere to go,” said neighbor Jonathan Rodriguez, who often fed Bishop and took him to the veterans hospital for medical treatment.
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Linked from Stars and Stripes

January: Veterans facing off with law enforcement

January: Veterans facing off with law enforcement

Colorado gunman who killed deputy left alarming online trail, officials say
CNN January 2, 2018

Matthew Riehl, a 37-year-old former Army reservist, shot four sheriff's deputies who responded to a complaint at his apartment in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch on Sunday morning, killing one, police say. Riehl was killed during a subsequent shootout with a police tactical team -- a clash that also left a SWAT officer injured, authorities say.

Potterville man died from self-inflicted wound after hours of negotiation
Lansing State Journal January 4, 2018

The man is a military veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury and depression, according to police.

Man dies after officer-involved shooting in Ozark
4029 News Arkansas January 4, 2018

"I just want answers, I just want to know what really happened," said Dawn Jones who told 40/29 News she was with Ronald Elliott, Tuesday, just hours before the deadly shooting.

"I don't think for one minute that Ron ever pointed a gun at police, he couldn't have, it's not who he is," Jones said. "He's a veteran who fought for our country, he did not point a gun at the police."

Officer involved shooting report released
Payson Roundup January 16, 2018

Just minutes after two Gila County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the Beaver Valley home of Jacob Brown, the tormented military veteran suffering from the delusions, paranoia and flares of rage from post traumatic stress disorder lay dead on the ground.

Troubled vet shot, killed by Harrison deputy
Longview News January 20, 2018

Arther McAfee Jr., 61, an Army veteran with a history of mental illness, died after a welfare check at his rural home northeast of the Longview city limits turned violent.

BearCat, K9 deployed in Live Oak standoff
KSBW News January 30, 2018

The man who lives at the house on Capitola Road near 7th Avenue is a U.S. military veteran with elite combat experience. He was identified as 35-year-old Austin Clary.

Army vet shot by police at VA clinic faces charges
Seattle Times January 30, 2018

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An Army veteran who was shot during a confrontation inside a Veterans Affairs clinic in Oregon where he went to seek help for mental problems was in jail Tuesday, charged with attempted assault, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and other crimes.

Standoff in St. Ann leaves dozens of shoppers stranded
KSDK News Reported February 1, 2018.

Wednesday, police confirmed the man responsible was an army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, therefore they believe he was experiencing some mental health issues.

Suicide Awareness Must Have Past by Jacob Brown

Pushing "Awareness" Proved You Didn't Really Care About Them!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 16, 2018

If you have a problem with the truth, then please don't bother to read this site anymore. If you really want to do what is popular, then you're in the wrong place. You are part of the reason it is as bad for our veterans as it is. 

Instead of sharing all the "22 a day" or "20" number, go back to sharing cat videos and puppies going down stairs. Hey, you can also share your fabulous life and what you want people to know about you. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed with you sharing your lunch pictures again.

Get a clue! If you think fun stunts and repeating slogans stolen from the headline of a reporter, who did not even bother to read the whole report, would change a damn thing, well you're right. You managed to let veterans know, not only did a lot of other veterans give up, but added in the additional fact that all these groups didn't even care they were doing it!

You proved a lot to them.

However, if you want to do the right thing and actually fight to make a difference in the lives of our veterans, please learn what is shared here and then, take action!

What you are about to read is yet one more example of veterans not getting the help they need and families having to face what no one has prepared them for...war coming home.

For all the bullshit about "resilience training" and making sure the families are prepared, you'd need a pay loader to pick it all up for the incinerator instead of  a pooper scooper.

They are coming home without a clue what PTSD is or even the tiniest hope of healing. 

Officer involved shooting report released

Payson Roundup

Alexis Bechman

January 16, 2018

Just minutes after two Gila County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the Beaver Valley home of Jacob Brown, the tormented military veteran suffering from the delusions, paranoia and flares of rage from post traumatic stress disorder lay dead on the ground.

Jacob Brown walking around his Beaver Valley rental before a deadly encounter with GCSO deputies, taken from surveillance cameras.

The tragic confrontation in June between Brown, 35, and Deputy Cole LaBonte, 33, and Sgt. John France, 60, lay rooted in the demons that had stalked Brown for years. He emerged from a home full of his own surveillance cameras with a drawn shotgun to confront the deputies who shouted at him repeatedly to put down the weapons before firing a total of 10 shots, killing Brown on his front porch. Brown did not fire, with the safety still engaged on the shotgun.

The Roundup obtained the Department of Public Safety’s investigation of the shooting, which cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing.

Brown’s wife says her husband had been out of his mind days leading up to the shooting and she had fled the area after he got a strange look in his eyes. 

She knew he was back there. Back in the war. Fighting a battle she could not see or help him overcome.
While he had left the war, it had not left him. 

His struggle to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder ended tragically. It left a family without a father, stamped the start of a young deputy’s career with a tragic shooting and apparently ended the law-enforcement career of a 36-year veteran.

read more here 

Yes, that is a picture of the last moment of Jacob Brown's life in Arizona. He survived combat but did not survive being home. 

Guess all that suicide awareness stuff got past him. Guess it got past his wife. Gee, must have gotten past all the officers left grieving for what they should have never had to do.

Maybe they all missed the "awareness" stunts there?

Here is the mind blowing headline from September 11, 2017

“It’s an epidemic:” Motorcyclists ride to raise awareness about veteran suicides

But they couldn't even get where the number came from. They have it as "Department of Defense instead of Department of Veterans Affairs.  

“They came up with a number in 2012, the Department of Defense," said Bill Byrne, a member of a New York chapter of Rolling Thunder. "22 veterans a day take their lives.”

As for Department of Defense, they never seem to know there are about another 500 a year committing suicide while still in the military or the simple fact that the two departments do not combine numbers! Here is the last suicide report from the DOD up to the first half of last year.

When awareness didn't work, veteran advocate took actionAZFamily-Jun 13, 2017 "We got tired of fighting veteran suicide just through awareness. We can throw all the big banners up. I can carry 22 ribbons every day. We aren't saving any lives. We were just making people aware," said Arthur. "We moved from awareness to actual action." Since that 2015 display, 

Why would he want to stop raising awareness?

Arizona veterans' suicide rate 4 times higher than civilians'

Want to start to make a difference, then go onto the sites of all these groups asking you for money using suicidal veterans to tug at your heart and ask them what are they trying to do. If they didn't take veterans seriously enough to read the damn report, learn any facts, show any kind of research on a subject this serious, then they are not serious about doing anything more than getting publicity for themselves!

People like me have done the research because saving lives, especially these lives required all the effort we could put into it.

Want to know the facts they won't tell you because they did not even bother to check? They need to stop raising awareness without learning first, but guess it wasn't important enough to them. Start learning for them and then ask them why they didn't bother to.

Here is a state by state list of veteran suicides, by ages and if they were able to list Military Service on their death certificates or not. Veterans Day Reminder of the Forgotten Find your state, how many veterans live there and how many the VA knows committed suicide. One more way to discover why the headline number is not even close to the number of hearts that stopped beating.

Here is the link to the report that has how many were kicked out of the military instead of helped. Guess what? They are not counted either! Kicked Out Instead of Helped

Jacksonville Veteran Shot on Wonderwood Bridge

Police officer shoots, injures armed veteran after rampage

Friday's police-involved shooting is 9th this year in Jacksonville

News4JAX

Ethan Calloway

Corley Peel

Allyson Henning

Court records show Smith was arrested on Sept. 19 on two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of domestic battery. On Oct. 17, he was referred to a pretrial intervention program for military veterans. He was out on bond Friday but was due to be back in court later this month. 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officer shot and injured an armed veteran who has had previous run-ins with law enforcement, after a crash Friday afternoon on the Wonderwood Bridge in the Mayport area, authorities said.

Steven Smith, 32, is expected to survive after he was shot twice by Officer A. Will, Assistant Chief Scott Dingee announced at a Friday evening news briefing. 

At 4:41 p.m., two 911 calls came in about hit-and-run incidents on Nesting Eagles Way, where residents said a man was driving recklessly -- hitting mailboxes, poles and trees, Dingee said.

Two minutes later, Dingee said, a third 911 caller reported a mentally ill man who was posing a threat to the caller's relative on nearby Blue Eagle Way East near Girvin Road in East Arlington.

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Iraq Veteran Scott Farnsworth Shot By Police in Arizona

Veteran shot by Mesa police sought treatment from Phoenix VA, wife says 
AZ Central 
Uriel Garcia 
September 25, 2017


"If we can't get the help our vets need, this (type of incident) is what it comes down to." Stephanie  Hamilton 
For Scott Farnsworth, serving a tour in Iraq as an Army infantry soldier was a point of pride.

But it was also the source of the 28-year-old's struggle with mental health, his wife, Stephanie Hamilton, told The Arizona Republic on Sunday.

That struggle led to a deadly encounter with police Friday night, she said, when officers fatally shot Farnsworth near Skyline High School in east Mesa as a football game was letting out.

Officers had responded to reports of Farnsworth waving a gun near Crismon Road and Southern Avenue, according to Mesa Det. Nik Rasheta.

"He was a good person," Hamilton said in a phone interview, describing Farnsworth as a family man and a veteran who loved his country. "But this is what a vet looks like when they don’t get help."

Hamilton declined to share additional details about Farnsworth's service or his mental-health. She said Farnsworth had sought help from the Phoenix VA Health Care System only to have his case fall "by the wayside."

Court records indicate Farnsworth faced assault and disorderly conduct charges in May and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted car theft in August.

"If we can't get the help our vets need, this (type of incident) is what it comes down to," Hamilton said.

The veterans hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.
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Was Dillan Tabares One of the Wrongly Discharged with PTSD

When reporters go to cover more of this story, finding out if Tabares was one of the thousands with "bad paper" discharges instead of being treated for PTSD. 

If he was, then being shot by police on Friday night should be part of the historical account about how we treat those who serve.

Man Killed By Huntington Beach Officer Was Navy Veteran, Says Mother Looking For Answers

CBS Los Angeles
September 24, 2017

HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — The mother of a 27-year-old man fatally shot by a Huntington Beach police officer Friday says her son was a Navy veteran who suffered from mental health issues.

Cell phone video shows the moments leading up to Dillan Tabares’ death, reported around 9:40 a.m. in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven at 6012 Edinger Avenue.

In one of two videos, Tabares appears to swing at the Huntington Beach police officer and the two wrestle and fall to the ground. Another angle shows Tabares appear to grab something from the officer’s waistband. Seconds later, the officer opens fire seven times, killing Tabares.

The victim’s mother, Tiffany Tabares, was at the scene grieving with loved ones Sunday evening. 

She said her son received a less-than-honorable discharge from the Navy and she’s looking for answers.read more here