Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis Received Government Benefits, Had Mental Issues

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The man who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard reportedly received disability benefits, telling a friend in Fort Worth this involved some problem with his feet. Whether or not there was anything wrong with his feet, there was definitely something wrong in his head:

Aaron Alexis seems a study in contradictions: a former Navy reservist, a Defense Department contractor, a convert to Buddhism who was taking an online course in aeronautics. But he also had flashes of temper that led to run-ins with police over shootings in Fort Worth, Texas, and Seattle.
A profile began to emerge Monday of the man authorities identified as the gunman in a mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., that left 13 people dead, including the 34-year-old man. While some neighbors and acquaintances described him as “nice,” his father once told detectives in Seattle that his son had anger management problems related to post-traumatic stress brought on by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He also complained about the Navy and being a victim of discrimination.
U.S. law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that Alexis had been suffering a host of serious mental issues, including paranoia and a sleep disorder. He also had been hearing voices in his head, the officials said. Alexis had been treated since August by the Veterans Administration for his mental problems, the officials said.

More headlines:

Suspect In Navy Yard Attack Previously Arrested
In Seattle For “Anger-Fueled” Shooting
— Seattle Police

Alleged Washington shooter served as Navy
reservist, may have recently lost job
— NBC News

Navy Yard shooter ‘had a pattern of misconduct’
— Los Angeles Times

He was a disgruntled kook who blamed his problems on others. We used to lock up kooks in the loony bin. Now we give them government checks and turn them loose. That’s working out real good, isn’t it?

 

82 comments

  3. If Floyd Corkins, Chris Dorner, John Muhammed, Lee Boyd Malvo, and Aaron Alexis are any indication, today’s liberals are becoming increasingly violent and aggressive.

  5. Well, if one thing is clear, it’s that today’s liberals have a very hard time controlling their aggressive instincts and their violent impulses.

    So, Matthews seems the clear favorite.

  6. Okay, this is going to be the random thing you read from that random guy on the internet that has no sourcing or anything. BUT:

    My SIL rides the Metro into DC every day and she swears she saw this guy on the train a couple of weeks ago. He stood out to her because he was on his cell phone and he was very angry, And she was sure it was him because she saw his name tag. But get this – that nametag was on a tan Navy uniform. So I questioned my SIL about that, was she sure, and she says yes, she is sure.

    If they turn up his Navy uniform in his belongings and it turns out to have been recently worn – well, I don’t know what it would mean.

  8. sorry, this offens me. PTSD is a serious problem for our soldiers here & overseas. Veterans are not “kooks” because they have trauma from wars they fought for our freedoms. To lump all vets with PTSD who are on psych meds into this category is inflammatory and does a great disservice to our brave soldiers.

    The government “benefits” was likely disability pay from a legitimate diagnosis by the VA.

    Nothing funny about that, Stacey.

    You should know better

  12. So sad really. Fell through too many cracks in the system. If a person of a different race had done the same things as this fellow, red flags and warning horns would have gone off. Because he is a member of a protected class, PC requires that people look the other way and ignore the warning signs to avoid being classed as raaaaacist!
    More dead innocents, sacrificed at the altar of Political Correctness.

  13. Who blamed 9/11 for his mental illness? it says he did a tour. It says he had PTSD. I think you’re grasping at straws.

    Either we have gun control or we recognize mental illness as something that needs to be evaluated & trated properly, or we don’t.

    I don’t see what 9/11 has to do with this.

    Where did I say that?

  14. Oh, I see the reference. I had a sister that worked at a hospital at 9/11 that recieved victims. She was diagnosed with acute stress disorder.

    I don’t think she’s crazy or that’s stupid, do you?

  15. Mental illness has enough stigma. If we, as conervatives, choose to laugh at it or blame people for their own mental illness, or say they should all be “put away” they were be a lot of our own we cast aside. Who doesn’t have a family member who has suffered from anxiety or depression? Mental illness is brain chemistry and synapses.

    I don’t understand why we think we’re “better” than anyone who has mental illness.

    I guess my family is more understanding. Our church has support groups for people that have family members with these issues. We don’t laugh when people asy they hear voices, and we don’t turn them away from help. But somebody has to speak up and let us know that their family member is experiencing this.

    The Lord wants us to love eachother. The voices that mentally ill people “hear” are not the traditional demons, but they are very real to the person who hears them.

    I think compassion, understanding, and acceptance of the fact that mental illness is VERY prevalant is important.

    Making fun of the tragedy (and the people who will get PTSD BECAUSE of this incident) makes us, as conservatives, look like hypocrites.

    We can’t scream “the problem is mental illness, not guns!” and then mock people who are seriously afflicted or brush it off saying, “They heard voices! That’s funny!”

    Or, perhaps, I am the only adult in the room

  16. Jordan Michaels, you don’t have guns do you? You are not angry are you?

    I doubt RSM is saying anyone experiencing PTSD is crazy (I think the name post traumatic stress disorder is misleading because the fact you would experience stress after a traumatic incident is not really a disorder anyway, it is normal). I do not know why this particular guy flipped out, but I am pretty sure it is not PTSD from 9/11. I suspect he was mentally ill (but it could be plain old evil too).

  17. We’re not laughing. Gallows humor is an important tool in dealing with the “there but through the Grace of God go I” feelings most of us get. You appear to be too young or ill-educated to understand this essential part of human nature. Mockery is a different creature entirely. As a practitioner I know the difference quite well 🙂
    So, unbunch your undies and try to keep up …

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