I'm the first one to talk about shared responsibility, but I can also recognize an angry young man who can't help but brutalize his girlfriend and shoot the cop who tries to intervene, a cop who happens to be female too.A Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy was in good condition Saturday after she was shot three times the previous night by an ex-Marine who then barricaded himself inside an apartment, authorities said.
The former Marine accused of shooting a Hillsborough County deputy three times Friday night had post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return from Iraq, his uncle said Saturday.
"I know he had been going to the VA hospital quite a bit, and they'd been putting him off, putting him off," Bob Buendia said of his nephew, 24-year-old Matthew Lane Buendia of Carrollwood. "He'd been getting frustrated."
I've know tough ex-Marines like this, perhaps you have too. They all suffer from PTSD after they're caught doing something stupid. But before that they have enough on the ball to pick their fights carefully. They don't let their rage get the best of them with other men bigger and tougher then they are, the local karate instructor, or the hulk-like biker who hangs on the corner. No, their anger, which seems uncontrollable, is often very controlled and directed to the girlfriend or the unsuspecting cop.On Friday night, Buendia and his live-in girlfriend, Jessica Gipson, 28, got into a fight at their apartment at Inwood Park Apartments, 4747 W. Waters Ave., according to sheriff's officials. Buendia struck her; when she tried to get away, he tackled her from behind, records say.
He then punched her in the head and slammed her head on the ground, the records say. When she managed to pull free, he picked her up by the throat, choking her, but she managed to get away and tried calling 911, they say. Buendia slapped the phone out of her hand.
By the way, did anyone check to see if he'd been the legal owner of that gun, or, god-forbid, that he'd had a concealed carry licence? No, I don't think anyone did, which serves the gun-rights movement just fine. We certainly wouldn't want an accurate accounting of how many of those guys are losing it.
What's your opinion? I think the girlfriend is lucky to be alive. Many others in her position are not.
Please leave a comment.
I agree Mike.
ReplyDeleteI also think we have far too many returning vets who really are suffering from PTSD, given the horrible number of suicides in the military, and newly ex-military.
There is some validity to the accusation that the resources of our VA are not adeuate to the task of caring for some aspects of our vets, and that we should be improving those areas of care. The harm to others seems about equally balanced by harm to themselves - including firearm suicides.
I am on the VA healthcare rolls. I can tell you, from personal experience (having mentioned that I felt like shooting myself in the head, because of my sciatica, to a doctor) that they take any sort of talk like that VERY seriously.
ReplyDeleteAssholes who beat up women are cowards. I don't give a shit if he's got the Congressional Medal, he's still an asshole and a coward. I can see where PTSD may be a mitigating factor in sentencing. I can also see where whatever sentence he receives should require him to present himself for drug testing and psychotherapy for a long, long time. Fucking asshole.
This is the post that got me kicked of DKos.
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