Hundreds witness veteran shoot and kill himself in VA waiting room

“Suicide prevention is VA’s highest clinical priority,” the VA said in a statement following the incidents in Georgia.

Despite these proclamations, the VA came under fire following a December GAO report that revealed only $57,000 of the VA’s $6.2 million suicide prevention media budget — or, less than 1 percent — had actually been used.

Recent government reports show that 530 veterans in Texas died by suicide in 2016 alone. That number equates to a suicidal likelihood that is double that of the general population.