SAVANNAH, Ga. --- A former soldier seeking help for mental problems at a Georgia military hospital took three workers hostage at gunpoint Monday before authorities persuaded him to surrender.
No one was hurt, and no shots were fired in the short standoff at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, said fort spokesman Kevin Larson. Military officials said the hostages were able to calm the gunman and keep him away from patients until he surrendered.
Military police arrested the gunman, who was being questioned Monday afternoon. His name was not immediately released.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips, a senior Fort Stewart commander, said the former soldier was seeking help for mental problems that were "connected, I'm quite certain, to his past service."
"He hadn't gotten the care that he wanted and he wanted it now," Phillips said, based on what one of the hostages had told him.
Both Phillips and Larson declined to be more specific, citing the active investigation.
The suspect walked into the hospital's emergency room about 4 a.m. carrying two handguns, a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic version of a submachine gun, Phillips said. He took a medic hostage and headed to the building's behavioral treatment wing on the third floor.
An Army psychiatric nurse spotted the gunman and approached him to talk, Phillips said. That nurse was then taken hostage along with a behavioral health technician who refused to allow the gunman through a locked door to the patient area.
Still, the nurse -- an Army major -- was able to start calming the man.
"Working together, they maintained the situation, kept the gunman out of the territory where he could harm someone else and bought time for someone else to get there," Phillips said.
Military police soon arrived and surrounded the hospital. Army investigators trained in hostage negotiations worked their way to the floor.
In less than two hours, they persuaded him to put down his weapons and surrender.
How many more veterans like him are out there? They are discharged and dumped on the VA for treatment, we owe our servicemen better.
Treating the injured in our military like crap is going to come back and bite us in a very big way. I can hardly imagine anything worse than having to beg for help and then feeling the only option was to resort to threat of violence.
I imagine this guy is either mentally incompetent or has been criminally neglected/abused by our government weenies.
Thankfully , the staff were able to convince the vet to avoid violence , shows they were on their toes and should be commended , not surprised the vet took this kind of action to get the help he needed - shows how the front end can be completely inconsiderate while the top end has all the answers but are not available until the crisis point .
Dumped on the VA for treatment? I can not speak for all VA hospitals but if he had been "dumped" on the VA in Augusta he would have been evaluated for treatment and any treatment that evaluation noted he would have received the treatment needed. And, if a service member is discharge and then develops mental problems, where is the treatment available for him/her? Must be the VA.
There are literally thousands of servicemembers out there that are suffering in some way with PTSD. This particular individual's chain of command should have assisted him in finding the help he needs BEFORE SEPARATION. However, disturbed and in need or not, This particular person went about getting help the wrong way. Before you are separated, it is mandatory to get a screening done for both physical and mental health. It is also mandatory that ALL service members attend preseparation classes...even if you are just going to another branch of the armed forces. As for the VA in Augusta, James, they suck just as bad as most other VA hospitals.
To blame the command of the ops that brought about the separation from arthorital lines is an option that is sometimes open to us. That he got away with murder is irrelivant. Furthermore, though a millitary screening was not preformed, neither was a military cuipe or VA eval. I have heard nothing, but good things from hospice care in the VA for quite some time. Pray that it continues.
paul28---compleated three tours in Iraq, Afganistan and Uzbekistan. Never were we screened except for an exit paper that was filled out in the out processing line stating you feel fine. All you want is to get home and not chance being held up for any reason. As for the VA in Augusta, Paul, they are outstanding and have always been there for myself and many more Veterans.
if you happen to read this, fish, I have been in for 11 years now in two seperate branches and I have personally seen both what you talk about and the exact polar opposite in returning from the current operations. they tried to have me seek help for ptsd because I was looking for my rifle 6 weeks after returning from Iraq. I will freely admit that yes, I was shaken around 4th of July but no longer have that problem when it comes to fireworks. Yes, there are many people who do not receive the treatment that they are due, and, as you know, it is on the servicemember as well as the command to ensure that they get the help they need.
As for the VA, I may be running on outdated software on that one. My reasons for that were completely biased for a personal reason.
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