A veteran in Austin, Texas, shot and killed himself in front of hundreds of people at a Veterans Affairs clinic, according to local reports.
A therapy class occurred for about an hour after the shooting, the report said.
Veterans were later asked to leave the building, triggering mass confusion. The clinic was shut down amid an investigation.
“When he found out he couldn’t get the help he needed there, he chose to take his own life,” McLennan County Veteran’s Service Officer Steve Hernandez said.
He said that the unnamed veteran was enrolled in the Phoenix program with the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Medical Center in Temple, Texas, and was discharged. His case was transferred to Austin, the report said.
Hernandez said there are problems with the VA system in that “there is no facility in the state or in the country dedicated to serving veterans with mental health issues.”
“What’s going on is concerning and the actions undertaken so far speak for themselves,” Hernandez continued. He said there was a Waco campus that served veterans with those needs.
Reddit user Diane_Kirkendall shared a photo that was taken in the waiting room of the suicide.
“Veteran takes his life in front of large American flag. The news won’t post this, they would rather sweep it under the rug and pretend Vet suicide doesn’t happen. There are hundreds of us vets who will never forget what happened yesterday at noon. RIP young brother,” said the user on Reddit.
Guns are prohibited in VA hospitals and clinics, but the Austin facility doesn’t have metal detectors, KWTX reported.
The Military Times, meanwhile reported that many clinics use randomized bag searches to detect the presence of weapons.
Between October 2017 and November 2018, the Times noted, some 19 veterans died via suicide at medical facilities.
Marine Col. Jim Turner put on his service uniform and went to the Bay Pines Department of Veterans Affairs and killed himself in December 2018, the Times noted.
“I bet if you look at the 22 suicides a day you will see VA screwed up in 90 percent,” his note, which was placed next to his body, said.
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