A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didn't know about his previous treatment and he didn't speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The day of the shooting, Lopez sent numerous despondent text … Continue reading →

WACO - Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury got some good news on Monday. New regulations from the Department of Veteran Affairs mean they could be getting benefit pay soon. TBI is becoming more and more of an issue in the VA. It's trauma to the brain and it's tied to a number of different diseases such as parkinson's, dementia, depression, blindness or seizures. Now, it can be caused by any explosion that impacts the brain. The problem with TBI is that there was no clear identifier in the VA for the syndrome, and that meant it was hard for veterans to receive benefits from it. "This concussive blast were occurring on a regular basis from IED's and I don't feel like anybody knew what the enemy was going to use and so when it started happening, it started causing a lot of unknown injuries," McLennan County Veteran Officer Steve Hernandez said. Most disabilities are assigned a rating up to 100 percent to determine payments and treatment. The Defense Department estimates that a quarter of a million veterans have experienced TBI since the year 2000. "The injury is caused from the shock wave of going into your … Continue reading →

McLEAN, Va. A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didn't know about his previous treatment and he didn't speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The day of the shooting, Lopez sent numerous … Continue reading →

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press McLEAN, Va. (AP) - A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didn't know about his previous treatment and he didn't speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The … Continue reading →

The family of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who shot and killed his girlfriend before taking his own life, had his body exhumed in hopes that having Belchers brain examined will reveal answers as to why the former University of Maine football star shot Kasandra Perkins nine times before turning the gun on himself. It is believed to be the first exhumation of a former NFL player. Belcher killed Perkins the morning of Dec. 1, 2012, then drove to the teams facility and killed himself. If his brain had been examined [when he died], wed have a better understanding of why he did what he did, said Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is credited with discovering the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. We would have a better understanding about concussions and playing football, and we would advance the understanding of the science of all of this. Last weekend, Belchers former college team drew almost 8,000 football fans to Alfond Stadium for UMaines first-ever NCAA home playoff game. Many passed under a mural depicting 20 of the programs greats who went to play in the NFL. Until last December, that mural had 21 names. Belchers name and photo … Continue reading →

MCLEAN A distraught Marine who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and a colleague before killing himself at the Quantico Marine Corps base was suicidal, had signs of traumatic brain injury and should have received better psychological care, a military investigation found. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez was receiving treatment in North Carolina after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, but his medical care stopped abruptly when he was transferred to Quantico in 2012, according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The reason appeared to be two-fold: His new doctors didnt know about his previous treatment and he didnt speak up. The report also found problems with the response to the shooting because unarmed Marines were deployed to secure the perimeter around the barracks. Two of the bodies were not found until nearly four hours after the shots were fired. Lopez shot Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, inside a barracks at the Officer Candidates School after a night of drinking. Lopez was upset Castromata had ended a relationship with him and had begun dating Wooley, according to the report obtained Thursday. The day of the shooting, Lopez sent numerous despondent … Continue reading →