Veteran killed by police sought help from the VA
Court records: 28-year-old battled PTSD after service
For Scott Farnsworth, serving a tour in Iraq as an Army infantry soldier was a point of pride.
But it was also the source of the 28year-old’s struggle with mental health, his former wife, Stephanie Hamilton, told The Arizona Republic on Sunday.
That struggle led to a deadly encounter with police Friday night, she said, when officers fatally shot Farnsworth near Skyline High School in east Mesa as a football game was letting out.
Officers had responded to reports of Farnsworth waving a gun near Crismon Road and Southern Avenue, according to Mesa Detective Nik Rasheta.
“He was a good person,” Hamilton, 22, said in a phone interview, describing Farnsworth as a family man and a veteran who loved his country. “But this is what a vet looks like when they don’t get help.”
Rasheta said officers found Farnsworth near a QuickTrip about 10 p.m. Friday after receiving multiple calls about his erratic behavior.
Police repeatedly told Farnsworth to drop the gun he was holding, Rasheta said, but he instead raised the gun toward officers.
Police then fired at Farnsworth, who died at the scene, Rasheta said.
The three officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, standard procedure when an officer shoots someone. Mesa police had not released the officers’ names as of Sunday afternoon.
Hamilton did not defend her ex-husband’s actions but said she knew Farnsworth wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. She described the standoff as a scream for help and a reminder of what veterans go through as they attempt to transition back into civilian life after war.
She said Farnsworth had sought help from the Phoenix VA Health Care System only to have his case fall “by the wayside.”
Hamilton declined to share additional details about Farnsworth’s service or his mental health.
Farnsworth battled with post-traumatic stress disorder since he returned from Iraq, according to court records in the couple’s divorce case.
Court records indicate Farnsworth faced assault and disorderly conduct charges in May and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted car theft in August.
“If we can’t get the help our vets need, this (type of incident) is what it comes down to,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton and Farnsworth had been in a custody battle since she filed for divorce in April 2016, court records show. Their divorce was finalized in June of this year, but custody issues came up again because of Farnsworth’s August criminal case.
Farnsworth had from PTSD and had a service dog named “Roper” that helped him cope with his symptoms, according to a letter attached to the divorce case and written by a VA nurse practitioner in February 2014. His PTSD was aggravated by an injury he suffered in Iraq, according to the divorce records.
When the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine studied 1,000 post-9/11 veterans in 2015, researchers found one-third had been involved in a physically aggressive incident within the previous year.
More than 10 percent had engaged in acts of severe or lethal violence.
Eric Elbogen, an associate professor at the school, called post-traumatic stress disorder “the risk factor most consistently associated with violence.” Yet only about half of the veterans who need treatment for PTSD seek it.
Estimates of depression in returning troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan vary widely, from 3 to 25 percent.
When the national VA health-care crisis erupted three years ago, Phoenix was the ignition point, and mental-health care was among the most critical issues — especially suicide-prevention efforts. It is unclear to what extent problems have been addressed.
A spokesman for the Phoenix VA Health Care System said he could not address the Farnsworth’s case because of privacy issues.
But Phoenix VA whistleblower Kuauhtemoc Rodriguez, chief of specialty care clinics for scheduling, said on Monday that wait times remain a severe problem for patients seeking psychological services.
In April, Rodriguez filed another in a series of complaints with the VA Office of Inspector General. He alleged that more than 250 veterans seeking mentalhealth treatment had been waiting up to five months because psychotherapists block appointment slots daily to ensure easy work schedules.
Rodriguez said he provided data supporting that allegation to the OIG and to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In June, after VA officials insisted that Iowa veterans were being cared for within 90 days, Grassley ripped the department for dishonesty.
“They were misleading us because the information was probably embarrassing,” Grassley said at the time. “It’s a crime that veterans are being treated this way.”
Rodriguez, a former infantry officer who also served as a military police officer, has asked to be moved out of the Phoenix VA system because of harassment for his whistleblower activities. In the meantime, he said, “As an Iraq vet myself, I can tell you that getting mentalhealth care is a challenge. The VA lied seven times to Senator Grassley.”
Since returning from Iraq, Farnsworth volunteered, conducting training for Phoenix-area law-enforcement agencies, Hamilton said. She said he also trained K-9 officers and helped transition retiring dogs to civilian homes.
“Him being a vet, he was able to relate with them on that level,” she said.
Aside from his time in the Army, Farnsworth’s 1-year-old daughter with Hamilton “was his pride,” she said. She said she wasn’t sure precisely what caused Farnsworth’s behavior Friday night.
“All I know is he was struggling,” she said.
The shooting remains under investigation.