Man who died (suicide) after standoff a Fort Carson soldier (Iraq war vet - awarded Purple Heart )

[sabra]

Source: Denver Post

WIDEFIELD, Colo.—A man who died at a Widefield home after an armed standoff with sheriff's deputies was a Fort Carson soldier assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit.

El Paso County sheriff's spokeswoman Lari Sevene says 27-year-old Spc. Larry Curtis Applegate died Friday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Deputies responded to the house on a report that a man was firing assault rifles inside.

The gunfire continued for about an hour. When it ended, a SWAT team entered the house and found Applegate dead.

Applegate, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was a twice-deployed Iraq war veteran awarded the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal with Valor. He joined the Army in 2004.

Post spokeswoman Julie Lucas on Tuesday said Applegate was assigned to the unit created by the Pentagon in June 2007 to house soldiers injured in war and to help them focus on healing.

One soldier died at a similar unit at Fort Stewart, Ga., earlier this month.


Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11506664

[TwilightGardener]

1. Sad. RIP, soldier--another war casualty.

[grannie4peace]

2. we need to work fast on PTSD reform !!! it is so very sad

[jwirr]

3. This is very sad. Our family had a friend who felt this way after Vietnam

and was only saved from the shoot out because instead of calling the police the neighbors waited until we could get ahold of the unit the VA had set up to go in and talk these guys down. Happily he is doing much better now. These young soldiers need help and they need it NOW.

[Mnemosyne]

4. More need to know of these incidents, many more to come.