DelayedReaction
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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Aug-02-Tue-2005/news/26983251.html
Wow. I hope he gets the help he deserves. That mugger certainly did.
When Matthew Sepi returned from Iraq a few months ago, he spoke to his family reluctantly of gunbattles and the "weird noises" children make when they die. He never told relatives whether he killed anyone during combat but said he recently had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had been placed on a waiting list for treatment.
To help shield his psyche from images of bodies, family members said, the 20-year-old soldier had adopted a simple technique: Just don't think about it.
But early Sunday morning, Army Spc. Sepi found himself thinking about killing in front of homicide detectives. They interrogated Sepi about a double shooting in a neighborhood near Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.
Based on Sepi's version of events, a 1 a.m. walk to a 7-Eleven proved nearly as dangerous as his tour of duty in Iraq.
According to an arrest report filed in Clark County District Court, Sepi told investigators he dressed in a black coat, tucked an assault rifle under his arm and left his apartment for a beer run.
As the 120-pound Sepi journeyed on foot and passed through a dark alley, a man and woman confronted him and yelled for him to leave the alley, police said in the report.
Sepi said the man, identified by authorities as 26-year-old Kevin Ratcliff, produced an object that he thought to be a gun and opened fire.
"(Sepi) explained that he had been trained in the military that in a situation in which he was ambushed, he was to engage the targets and retreat from the area," police wrote in the report. "He felt that the situation in the alley was an ambush, and he reacted the way he had been trained."
Sepi recalled firing four shots. Sharon Jackson, 47, fell to the ground and died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Ratcliff was hit by gunfire and was taken to a hospital. He is expected to survive.
Sepi, meanwhile, had fled the shooting scene and returned to his apartment to grab more ammunition, police said. Minutes later, a police officer pulled over the infantry specialist's Oldsmobile sedan and noticed an assault rifle inside.
Sepi, an American Indian who hails from Winslow, Ariz., was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of one count of murder and attempted murder.
Some evidence might lend credence to Sepi's self-defense story.
"We do know the victim's boyfriend (Ratcliff) got off a few rounds as well," police Lt. Tom Monahan said.
Police said they recovered a 9 mm pistol and three spent 9 mm casings at the crime scene.
Police are investigating Sepi's story that someone had pulled a knife on him, while he was unarmed, the day before the shooting.
Sepi's mother, Nora, said she had noticed changes in her son since he tried to move back to civilian life.
She said he seldom spoke of his combat but mentioned that he participated in gunbattles. But when an enemy was hit, Sepi and his fellow soldiers had a difficult time in telling precisely who had shot him.
"He said you can't tell when you're shooting from afar who killed who," Nora Sepi said.
Nora Sepi said her son, who served in the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, had contacted Veterans Affairs for help with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Department of Veterans Affairs defines PTSD as a psychiatric disorder that can induce flashbacks, nightmares and other symptoms in survivors of life-threatening episodes. The agency's Web site estimates that about 30 percent of people who spend time in war zones will suffer from the disorder.
Matthew Sepi told his mother he had requested treatment from the agency.
"He said it was going to take a while," Nora Sepi said. "He's not getting anything right now."
Veterans Affairs officials at the agency's regional office in Reno would not respond to questions about the disorder.
When questions were posed to the Army Reserve's 113th Medical Company, Combat Stress Control, in Stanton, Calif., an official deferred to a VA Web site.
But a local veteran of the Vietnam and Korean wars who has been diagnosed with PTSD said the effects are usually delayed.
"It just depends on what triggers it. If someone took a shot at me, I'm afraid I'd shoot back too," said Chad Avery, a member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 17.
"It's just a reaction after a while," said Avery, a former veterans center counselor.
"God knows if you get shot at enough, it just becomes instinct," he said.
Avery said PTSD is treated by talking about the problem in individual or group sessions. Some veterans who see psychiatrists are offered anti-depressant medication to deal with the disorder.
Sepi's military mind-set is alluded to in the arrest report.
The young man used military jargon to describe his actions in the alley, calling his shoot-and-retreat strategy "breaking contact."
Police did not mention anything about PTSD in their report but indicated that Sepi became visibly upset while speaking about Sunday's shooting and his military duties in Iraq.
"He has been very nervous since returning from Iraq," a police officer wrote in the arrest report. "While working day labor, he heard a pallet fall to the ground, and was so bothered by it, he could not function for an hour."
Army officials were reviewing Sepi's personnel records Monday. A human resources official in St. Louis said Sepi was honorably discharged sometime in May and was completing his Individual Ready Reserve obligation.
Wow. I hope he gets the help he deserves. That mugger certainly did.
