He was diagnosed after he got out of the military, and institutionalized twice.
“Routh, a member of the Marines Corps Reserve, was first taken to a mental hospital on Sept. 2 after he threatened to kill his family and himself, according to police records in Lancaster, where Routh lives. Dallas police records show Routh was taken back to the same mental hospital in mid-January after a woman called police and said she feared for Routh’s safety.”
“A 911 recording and documents released Tuesday reveal more about the possible state of mind of the Iraq War veteran charged with gunning down a former Navy SEAL sniper and his friend at a Texas shooting range.
“Eddie Ray Routh told his sister and brother-in-law that he and the two men “were out shooting target practice and he couldn’t trust them so he killed them before they could kill him,” according to a Lancaster police search warrant affidavit.
“Shortly after the shootings, Routh’s sister told a 911 operator that her brother had come to her house and confessed to killing two people and was “psychotic,” according to a recording of the frantic call to Midlothian police.”
“Laura Blevins told police her brother seemed “out of his mind saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs. He said he was going to get their souls before they took his,” according to the affidavit.”
If Routh went Cuckoo after getting out of the military I doubt it was due to PTSD. Again they don’t just let you into the military because you walk into the recruiting office. I’ll be interested to hear what kind of psychotropic drugs the docs had him on when he went to the gun range.
From my readings on PTSD most people who have it are not violent. They are fearful and if anything they may harm themselves.
Can you believe that guys like Chris Kyle and his friend would have taken somebody who they knew had already threatened to kill people to a gun range and stick a loaded weapon in his hand? I doubt it. They were security experts.
The whole thing is weird.