CONCERT KILLER GOT AX AS GI

New York Post ^ | 12/17/04 | AP

[kattracks]

The mother of the man who gunned down former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three others during a concert said her son was discharged from the military because he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Mary Clark said that her son, Nathan Gale, was released from the Marines in 2003 after the military diagnosed the disorder.

[snip]

Gale, 25, charged the stage at a show by Abbott's new band, Damageplan, on Dec. 8 at a Columbus nightclub. He opened fire before Police Officer James Niggemeyer shot him to death.

Clark said Niggemeyer had no choice.

"I give that man credit," Clark said. "You'll never know how many lives he saved."

[snip]

His mother said Gale was obsessed with Pantera, a popular, Grammy-nominated, heavy-metal band, and had a drug problem in high school. She said he believed the band had stolen song lyrics from him. Some of Gale's friends also have said he complained the band was trying to steal his identity. Gale's former boss at an oil-change business said the killer acknowledged suffering from schizophrenia when he was hired in October 2003. The condition is characterized by delusions and hallucinations.

[stainlessbanner]

"had a drug problem in high school."

[tallhappy]

The policeman's name is not appropriate.

It should be changed to Stingymeyer.

[shubi]

The plight of the severely mentally ill and the danger to our citizens from the lack of coherent policy and institutionalization is endangering lives every day.

Most of you don't realize the danger, since most people cannot recognize mental illness that readily. I work in homeless ministry in the inner city. Many of the more dangerous homeless are mentally ill. They sell their antipsychotics for crack or take both together. It makes for an interesting set of symptoms.

This problem has been with us since Ronald Reagan closed down most of the mental institutions due to intense lobbying from not so severely mentally ill people who were institutionalized unnecessarily. We threw the baby out with the bath water.

One Flew Over the CooCoo's Nest was a major factor in giving us this terrible solution to a hard to solve problem. (It also saved loads of tax money, since it is so much cheaper to dispense pills than finance large mental institutions.)

Another factor was the fact that Freudian treatment didn't work for the mentally ill and the improvement in drug therapy seemed the answer. The problem is, many mentally ill people are too sick to reliably be asked to take their medicine when they should. Many of the chronic homeless sleeping under the bridge are these folks. Many of the men say they are Nam vets when that is just a delusion, too. They probably watched Platoon once.

[Nick Danger]

What city?

[shubi]

Cincinnati

[FormerACLUmember]

Treatment of the dangerously mental ill has become a pathetic joke in the USA, due to managed care insurance and the lawyer industry.

It is almost impossible to get anyone into hospital. Once there they are forced out in a few days, no matter how sick. Absolutely no long term care exists anymore. There are hundreds of thousands of Nathan Gales out there.

[Gerasimov]

I'm a cop... a couple of hours ago I was talking to one of our "regular" SCARY mentals who wanders through town every few months... he's the "chop you up and make a stew" type ... but no one can get him committed.

Somewhere between the abusive asylums of the 50's and the "open door" outpatient treatment of today there must be a happy medium.

[olde north church]

The release of the people suffering from severe mental illness was abetted by your friends and mine at the ACLU. Blaming the Reagan Admin is WRONG! I remember when we were told the rights of these people was people were being violated. Another consequence, whether intended or unintended by creating another class to care for, the exponential growth of the homeless.

[ovrtaxt]

"I give that man credit," Clark said. "You'll never know how many lives he saved."

I've got to hand it to mom. She's not one of these 'it's everybody else's fault' types. She recognizes that her son was indeed a danger. I feel sorry for her, but I admire her honesty.

[eccentric]

Does this remind you of George Carlin's old joke about 'getting a bottle of Scope in the mailbox'? The guy goes berserk, kills people "and they blame it on Marine training..."

[shrinkermd]

"I'm a cop... a couple of hours ago I was talking to one of our "regular" SCARY mentals who wanders through town every few months... he's the "chop you up and make a stew" type ... but no one can get him committed.

The civil libertarians have taken the position that if you can walk and talk and are not an immediate danger to others you can remain on the streets. I wish this was a RAT problem but many on the FR and other conservatives are against any kind of civil commitment or forced medications.

The solution is simple and we have it. Appoint guardians of the person for those adjudicated incompetent to manage their own affairs. Judges and the courts hate it as does the ACLU, but it once was the traditional way to handle people who could not manage their own affairs (including health needs. Also, no one wants to pay for it.