UPDATE: Why PTSD played in the role of a Fergus Falls man shooting...

Lt Col (Join to see) I completely agree sir, unfortunately for many they want to put a one size fits all diagnosis on things even though each case is unique. In this situation there were a series of institutional failures that allowed for this to happen. I won't pretend to know what was going on in his mind, but for his 180 degree change in personality and temperament he was clearly severely troubled and its sad to know that the resources weren't there to help him despite loved ones and professionals recognising the signs. That is the change I hope to see come from situations like this. There needs to be things in place to help a family that recognizes an eminent problem that doesn't involve a crime having had to be committed in order for them to get help. That goes for all severe mental illness not just soldiers with PTSD.

I haven't seen this soldier since graduation but everyone remembers him as a great kid. Unfortunately he really changed after his TBI from what I've been told and the parents and family, and him struggled to get him help. I know a couple of the family members had gotten restraining orders against him by the time this happened. I only know bits and pieces of his story, but I've struggled before with trying to get help for a brother in law who desperately needed it, and I understand where the mother is coming from. If they are not willing it is utterly impossible to get someone mental treatment (at least it is in MN) no matter how badly they need it.

Sgt Gus Laskaris I apologize if that is the message that came across. What I meant to address was the institutional failures that allowed this to happen. You are absolutely right, there was something seriously wrong with this Soldier; Where I am concerned is that the Soldiers family, friends and professionals all recognized the eminent threat that he posed in his condition and that there was nothing they could do to get him help. That is the issue that I wanted to address.

It may be different wherever you are from, but in Minnesota where this incident occurred there is no way to have a mentally ill person admitted for mandatory treatment unless they have committed, or were caught in the act of committing a serious violent crime. I am vividly familiar with what this family went through, by having a brother-in-law who is schizophrenic and untreated. We see the eminent threat that he poses to himself and others, and had emails and letters that he's written to politicians, police officers, ex-friends, etc threatening to kill them all if he didn't get his imaginary "inheritance" from them. We pursued every option in the state of Minnesota to have him committed for treatment and the most they can do is a 72-hour hold, after which he's diagnosed with schizophrenia and released on his own accord. We were repeatedly told after the last time I saw him (when he threatened my daughter) that threats are not enough to hold him for more than the 72 hours, because there was no proof he intended to act on those threats. More than once we were told he had to act on the threats before they could hold him. No, this wasn't because of PTSD or TBI, but it was the result of an institutional failure that allowed for it to happen. This family had exhausted all of their resources, and his siblings had even gone as far to get restraining orders against him because they feared him and yet he had to kill his father before anything would be done to get him treatment.

This institutional failure is what allows for the negative perception of all veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI because almost universally the warning signs for these situations are all over the place leading up to any incidents like this, and nothing is available to stop it from happening. Essentially, it is treated like if a Soldier came up to you and told you they were going to commit suicide, and all you could do is say, "Well if that's what you want to do, then there's nothing I can do to help, here's a knife."