Pentagon Shooter Had History Of Mental Problems; Parents Worried About Gun Purchase

Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell was a San Jose State electrical engineering student with a history of mental problems.  His parents were concerned that he recently bought a gun at a Sacramento gun range.

A portrait emerged of 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell as a man who appeared to deteriorate mentally in recent years as he ran up a record of minor crimes and posted conspiracy theories about the government on the Internet…

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Bedell lived off and on with his parents in his native Hollister and had himself admitted to mental health centers four times in recent years, according to authorities in San Benito County.

Bedell’s family issued this statement:

“To the outside world, this tragedy is the first and only thing they will know of Patrick,” the family said. “To us, he was a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin. We may never know why he made this terrible decision. One thing is clear, though – his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character.”

Bedell had a few run-ins with the law.

In August 2007, he was arrested for brandishing a 6-foot-long martial arts stick at a man in Mountain View when he was told he couldn’t play soccer, police said.

“The suspect swung the stick at the victim and said, ‘Do you want to keep your original teeth?’ ” Steve McCoy, a Mountain View police spokesman, said Friday.

A recent gun purchase had his parents concerned.

Bedell’s family learned that he had returned to California when they discovered he had made a $600 purchase at a gun range near Sacramento on Jan. 10, [Holister, CA sheriff Curtis] Hill said. It is unknown what he bought, but the sheriff said Bedell’s parents had told authorities they were “concerned.”

Under federal law, Bedell would have had to wait 15 days after buying a gun to take possession. He did not have a felony conviction and had not been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, so he was eligible to purchase a firearm.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.