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Top officials at the Veterans Affairs department are investigating possible gaps in mental health care provided to a veteran accused of fatally shooting one woman and injuring four others in a medical office in Midtown. The suspect, Deion Patterson, had received mental health treatment at the Atlanta VA in Decatur since March, according to a source within the VA who reviewed his internal records. Patterson had scheduled a video appointment with the VA just over two hours after the shooting at Northside Hospital Midtown medical office building.
Patterson and his mother were checking in for an appointment when the shooting occurred. Police say he opened fire in the waiting room, shooting five women before leading law enforcement on an eight-hour manhunt that ended in Cobb County.
Patterson, 24, was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard in January. The VA has not confirmed if he was being treated at the Atlanta VA. According to a source, Patterson had two mental health appointments in March, one in-person and one video call, and two more appointments in April. His mother, Minyone Patterson, accompanied him to the final appointment, requesting an Ativan prescription for her son. The VA medical team declined, fearing addiction, and prescribed Buspirone, another anxiety treatment drug, instead.
Minyone Patterson told The Associated Press that her son had “some mental instability going on” due to medication he began taking on Friday. It is unclear if this medication was the Buspirone prescription from the VA.
The VA is currently investigating a whistleblower complaint that thousands of mental health calls to the Atlanta VA have gone unanswered over the past year due to slow hiring by the Human Resources Department. This comes amid increased pressure on government officials to improve mental health services for military veterans across the nation. However, veterans and advocates say that the basic systems for treating veterans’ mental health in Georgia are inadequate, with a shortage of therapists and frequent staff turnover.
Source: Military.com
