Man killed in officer-involved shooting struggled with mental illness
The Rapid City JournalJun 11, 2017
Before mental illness took its toll, the man who threatened a mass shooting at a
And so began a decadelong battle with mental illness, which culminated on
A familiar face,
Tim had started talking in a different American accent, carried around knives and placed one within reach in every room of the apartment, said his wife,
Kathy was so disturbed by her husband's behavior that she left their home and moved into a women's shelter on the morning of
"There were just some things he said, and I knew that this is not my Tim," Kathy, 58, said. "We have knives in the house. This is an angry man. I don't need to be here." It was the last time she spoke to or saw him.
After Tim threatened a mass shooting "just like
A crisis negotiator tried to get Tim, who was brandishing a black handgun, to leave the apartment, but he refused. The standoff, which lasted nearly four hours, ended when Tim pointed the gun at state Highway Patrol Trooper
Dale fired his rifle seven times. Tim, 53, fell to the floor and died at the apartment.
Finals days and hours
Tim turned out to have been wielding a pellet gun, according to an investigation report by the
The attorney general's office ruled the shooting justified. Its report, released
Tim's father,
The family wanted to share Tim's story, partly, to tell people it is important to seek help for mental illness. There are many people with bipolar disorder who lead full and happy lives given proper treatment, Kathy said.
Tim, unfortunately, had a different ending.
Kathy and Lowell emphasized that they do not blame law enforcement for using deadly force on Tim.
"I don't hold the police responsible," Kathy said. "They were protecting others."
Lowell said: "He's flashing a gun. You have to assume that it's real. I don't think they had any choice."
But Kathy blames the lack of coordination between law enforcement and mental health professionals in dealing with mentally ill people who come into contact with police.
A week before Tim's death, Kathy called his psychiatrist to report that her husband was exhibiting strange behavior. The
She called police for a welfare check on
Call for service
Holmgren did not fit either of the scenarios when police conducted his initial welfare checks. He qualified for involuntary mental health commitment the day of the standoff, Jegeris said, but the situation ended up necessitating the use of force.
Mental health professionals do not conduct house calls at the behest of local police; rather, local police need to bring patients to the mental health professionals, he said.
Local police receive a "high degree" of training in how to deal with mentally ill people and also have crisis negotiators, Jegeris said. He believes the system in place is effective but said he is open to doing more to serve mental health people in crisis.
Kathy said local and state officials, as well as mental health care providers, also need to step up with the services for ordinary, middle-class citizens.
"If Tim had been treated properly 10 years ago, would I still have him, the man of my dreams?" she said in an interview at a one-bedroom apartment she is now renting on the south side of
The community is now in the midst of addressing local mental health issues after
In March, members of the public and private sectors formed an alliance to come up with solutions to what is deemed a severe lack of long-term and crisis mental health services in the
Living with bipolar disorder
Lowell, 86, lost his son in April, but he says the process started 10 years ago when Tim was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Also known as manic-depressive illness, it is a brain disorder that mental health experts say causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
People with bipolar, according to information from the
A few years before he was diagnosed, Tim rewired his garage lights so they could not be turned off, telling his dad he couldn't understand why anyone would want them off.
Shortly before his diagnosis, Kathy said, Tim began replaying and editing in his head conversations he has had with people.
"He described it as like a radio going in his head all the time, on, changing stations," said Kathy, who married Tim the day they graduated from
Tim apparently could not sleep and self-medicated with alcohol. He had a breakdown and quit his job at
Last summer, after
"He emailed me a 40-page stump speech," Lowell said in an interview at his
Since his diagnosis, Tim had been seeing a local psychiatrist who prescribed him with bipolar medication. But Tim could not find a suitable counselor in town, which Kathy said was a crucial counterpart to his medication.
In search of better health care, the couple lived in
The bottom line, Kathy said, was they did not have the money to get the treatment Tim needed.
"We couldn't afford really good help. Insurance doesn't pay for really good help," she said. "If you're from
The day of the standoff, Kathy did not find out about her husband's shooting until shortly after it was over. She read about it online at her younger son's home.
Leaning on faith
Tim was cremated the following day. On
During Lowell's interview later that month, his voice filled with pride whenever he talked about his son's accomplishments.
He recounted how Tim, the youngest of his five children, turned a college summer job into a two-year stint as a newspaper sports editor in
Several years later, he said, the owner of a
Tim and Kathy didn't have any children. He helped raise her two sons, who were 3 and 6 years old when they got married.
Today, a wooden urn with his cremains rests in Kathy's living room, beside a crystal cross and a photo of Tim hiking with three friends.
Kathy, who now works as a part-time guide for a government agency, credits her faith and her church's support for helping her cope with Tim's death and find peace.
During her moments of grief, she looks back at their 28 years together. Even after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she said, he continued to be a loving husband with an eventful life.
"We went on vacations, celebrated birthdays and anniversaries, had morning coffees, political debates, I watched him write four novels, numerous novellas, and hundreds of poems and essays," she wrote in an email.
"He had all the love and support of his family and friends that a man could have, but sometimes that just is not enough."