Dallas shooter showed symptoms of PTSD

Former soldier who killed 5 cops treated at VA 2 years prior.

The former Army reservist who killed five Dallas police officers last month showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home from Afghanistan in 2014, but doctors concluded that he presented no serious risk to himself or others, according to newly released documents from the Veterans Health Administration.

Micah Johnson had sought treatment for anxiety, depression and hallucinations, telling doctors that he experienced nightmares after witnessing fellow soldiers getting blown in half. He also said he heard voices and mortars exploding, according to the documents released as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request.

“I try to block those out, but it is kinda hard to forget,” Johnson told his care provider, according to the documents.

Johnson, 25, was the sniper who targeted the officers at the conclusion of a peaceful march July 7 in downtown Dallas, where demonstrators were protesting fatal police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana. Armed with an assault rifle, he took multiple positions as he fired. Hours later, authorities, after failing to persuade him to surrender, used a bomb-carrying robot to kill him.

During his deployment, Johnson was largely confined to base in an area of Afghanistan that had seen heavy combat but that was relatively quiet when his unit arrived in November 2013, according to his former squad leader.

Upon his return to the U.S. nine months later after being discharged following a sexual harassment allegation against him, Johnson told doctors he was experiencing panic attacks a few times a week, including once while at WalMart. An unspecified conflict at the store required a police response, the records said.

“Veteran states hearing all the noises, fights and police intervening caused him to have palpitations, ‘My heart felt like someone was pinching it while it was beating fast,’” the records state.

The records do not show a formal PTSD diagnosis.

Doctors eventually decided that Johnson presented a low risk for suicide or for hurting anyone else, according to a medical record from a visit on Aug. 15, 2014. Johnson told health care providers he had lower back pain and was avoiding “crowds of people and when in the public, scanning the area for danger, noting all the exits, everyone’s actions.” “I feel like I can’t trust all of these strangers around me,” Johnson told his doctor, who noted that he had taken to drinking since his return to Dallas.

Johnson was prescribed a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant and anti-anxiety and sleep medication, and a nurse offered him tips on managing anger. He also saw a psychiatrist and was further evaluated for his PTSD symptoms in September of that year, but the physician noted his mood was “better.”

When providers called Johnson in October 2014, he requested to put off further evaluation for PTSD.