San Diego family of three found fatally shot at home, navy veteran had PTSD

A family of three was found dead with gunshot wounds in their San Diego home. Relatives say navy veteran David Voight had been suffering from severe PTSD.

San Diego family found fatally shot; relatives cite veteran's PTSD

A family of three was discovered dead inside their San Diego area home on Wednesday morning, theguardian.com reports, after a concerned neighbour raised the alarm.

The San Diego Police Department identified the victims as David Voight, 56, Amy Voight, 54, and the couple's 13-year-old daughter. All three died of gunshot wounds, and investigators recovered a weapon at the scene.

Gerald Austin, Amy Voight's father, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that David Voight had served as a naval officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Amy worked for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service as a digital forensic examiner. Gerald Austin said he believed the violence stemmed from David Voight's post-traumatic stress disorder, adding that his daughter had adored her husband.

Amy Voight's mother, Mary Austin, said she had observed David Voight's symptoms worsening in recent weeks and that she and her husband had urged their daughter to seek professional help for him.

"You could visibly see there was something really wrong," Mary Austin told Fox 5. "He was fidgety. You could tell."

Gerald Austin said his daughter had sought help for her husband in the days before the deaths, but that the couple were turned away because they lacked an appointment — an allegation the Department of Veterans Affairs denied.

The VA said it could not comment on the specific case, citing privacy concerns, but stated that the claims about its services were inaccurate. "All VA healthcare facilities offer same-day mental healthcare to all veterans who need it," said Quinn Slaven, the VA press secretary.

The county medical examiner's office will conduct autopsies to determine the official cause and manner of death, police said in a statement.

According to the VA, seven out of every 100 veterans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. Among veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that figure rises to 29%, with deployment identified as a significant risk factor.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)