Father: Suspect in deadly Utah shootout had PTSD

Father: Suspect in deadly Utah shootout had PTSD

OGDEN, Utah (AP) - Search warrant in hand, a team of bulletproof vest-wearing officers rapped on the door of a small, red-brick Utah house, identifying themselves as police. When no one responded, authorities say, the officers burst inside.

That’s when the gunfire erupted.

When it was over Wednesday night, a 7-year veteran officer was dead and five of his colleagues were wounded, some critically. The suspect, an Army veteran whose estranged father said suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and may have been self-medicating with marijuana, was injured.

Now, as the city tries to grapple with the outburst of violence and the loss of one of its officers, investigators are trying to determine how the raid as part of a drug investigation could have gone so terribly wrong.

Full Story Here:
Father: Suspect in deadly Utah shootout had PTSD

A father, estranged from his son, desperately seeks a way to justify the actions of that son, and in doing so, claims that his son, Matthew David Stewart, suffers from PTSD.

OK, right here is where I call BULL SHIT on this PTSD thing where Stewart is concerned, and this is WHY:

Stewart served in the Army from July 1994 to December 1998, spending a year based in Fort Bragg, N.C., and nearly three years stationed in Germany, Army records show.

He held a post as a communications equipment specialist, earning an Army Achievement Medal and a National Defense Service Medal. Both are given for completing active service, although they don’t indicate exceptional acts of valor.

Did Matthew David Stewart suffer his PTSD from too many nights spent at Das Bier-Haus in pursuit of a Fraulein or from dodging those weird motorcycle gangs on mini-bikes? One thing is a certainty, Stewart was a communications equipment specialist, that translates into ‘radio repairman’. The last time I checked, we haven’t engaged in any U.S. combat operations in Germany since 1945 at the end of WWII. How did he get PTSD?

Stewart’s father, Michael Stewart, said his son works a night shift at a local Walmart and may have been sleeping when police arrived.

“When they kicked in the door, he probably felt threatened,” said Michael Stewart, who has been estranged from his son for more than a year, but keeps track of him through his two other sons.

The elder Stewart said his son suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and may have been treating it with small amounts of pot. He said he believes his son may have been growing the weed himself.

I would certainly like to hear the rationale behind Stewart’s fathers claims of PTSD and what it is that makes him believe his son suffered it. What traumatic act happened to him to cause the POST traumatic stress disorder? I certainly wouldn’t think it was due to his military service as a radio repairman in Germany.

And if Stewart was asleep, do you suppose he was STONED? Out in the ozone? Maybe that was why he didn’t hear the knocks, more likely POUNDING, and the announcement of ‘Open up, POLICE!’ If there had been a *no knock* then the officers should have been in the house and on top of Stewart BEFORE he had time to react.

The thing about this story that bothers me most is the death of Officer Jared Francom and the fact that his wife is now a widow and his children are fatherless. I am really perplexed by this next bit of information though. Personally, I don’t care WHAT maladies Matthew David Stewart may or may not have suffered, I DO care about this possibility:

Among the questions that authorities will try to answer was whether the officers, in the chaotic moments upon entering the house, may have inadvertently fired on each other.

This is becoming an all too often occurrence, what some call *Friendly Fire*, 2 words that I hate with ALL of my being.

So-called *friendly fire* has been responsible for several officer deaths in recent times, and is a hazard our troops face on a daily basis as well.

Forensics and ballistics will tell the tale, maybe Stewart is guilty of nothing more than being a doper, maybe he’s a cop killer, I am not passing judgement in any way, but IF he is a cop killer, send him to hell.

Mistakes DO happen, and if these officers did fire upon each other, then the mistake is on them.

If Matthew David Stewart is just a stoner, and is guilty of nothing else, then find out what the hell DID go wrong on this operation and make certain it never happens again.