His name was Dionisio Garza III and he was twenty-five years old. In a tragic and presumably coincidental twist, he was from San Bernardino County, California.
And in an awful coda to this Memorial Day, Garza was reportedly an Afghanistan combat veteran.
No, he wasn't a Muslim.
According to his father, he recently became attracted to survivalism and believed the United States economy was about to collapse.
In a seemingly random shooting rampage in Houston on Sunday, Garza fatally shot one man and wounded six others before he himself was shot dead by police. Another man, originally suspected to be a second shooter, was among the injured. It is now almost certain he was a good samaritan who merely had tried to stop Garza.
KPRC2 in Houston obtained an exclusive interview with the suspect's father:
Garza's father said his son, although loving, had become increasingly troubled over the last few months and decided to travel to Houston to meet others who believed the United States was on the brink of collapse.
"On the internet he met some people or some people that believed like him.
It's better to go to Texas. He was trying to get us all to go over there and you know go live in a compound. That kind of talk, you know? That wasn't my son," the man said.
Channel 2 Investigates located Facebook and Twitter accounts belonging to Garza.
On Twitter, on May 25 of this year he posted:
"When do you think the dollar will collapse? I know this year?"
Garza's father, a missionary, last talked to his son Saturday, just one day before the shooting.
"You know he was rambling off about the economy collapsing, you know. And that something was going to happen by Monday, that kind of stuff. Of course you look back now and there were signs. There were signs," he said . . .
Houston police officers found a military-style backpack Monday at the Conoco gas station that caught fire after a bullet hit one of the gas pumps.
The backpack contained bullets, a birth certificate and several other items.
KPRC 2 found the father of the man listed on the birth certificate. He said police have not called him, but he said friends and family members informed him that his son is the suspect in the west Houston mass shooting.
The father believes his son's PTSD contributed to his strange behavior leading up to the shooting.
"I talked to my son on Saturday. He said something was going to happen Monday," the father said.
He believes his son had a mental breakdown.
Read the rest here.
Correction (10:49 CST): I originally wrote that the good samaritan was "shot by police." The news reports suggest he was shot by Garza.
Correction (10:49 CST): I originally wrote that the good samaritan was "shot by police." The news reports suggest he was shot by Garza.
The Bear notes he is wearing a CIB, blue infantry cord and jump wings. Maybe he is dressed for the Army Ball, in happier times. He is wearing an armored division shoulder patch, so he is an infantryman serving in a combined arms formation. He obviously had his act together in at least some ways, at some time.
ReplyDeleteAsymmetrical warfare is psychologically insidious. You are never behind friendly lines. Your Afghan ally next to you may kill you. You don't know. Anything along the road is a IED until proven otherwise. Eventually, some people's brains "get stuck" on fight or flight. That's PTSD. Behaviors that are adaptive for the Afghan environment prove problematic upon return home.
The Bear does not know of a connection between PTSD and the kind of delusions that seemed to eat at this poor young man, nor is he suggesting people with PTSD are risks. The Bear does not know what he experienced, what he saw. He was in combat, or he wouldn't have the CIB. Afghanistan sucks in so many ways. Leave them to their poppies. It is sad for the people, most of whom just want to be left alone and actually prefer American soldiers to Taliban. It will always be a s***hole.