Man accused of killing family suffered from PTSD
A former soldier who police say fatally shot his wife and children and set their house on fire before killing himself suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following a military career that included a stint in Iraq, his family said Wednesday.
In a statement issued three days after the tragedy in an upscale neighborhood in suburban Louisville, Kentucky, Brad Hettinger's family said the Army Reserve veteran had been seeking help for complications associated with PTSD and was attending marriage counseling with his wife.
The bodies of Hettinger, his wife and children were found as firefighters worked to extinguish several blazes that authorities say Hettinger had set inside the stately two-story brick home before killing himself Sunday.
Billie Joe Hettinger died of gunshot wounds to the chest and head, while each of the children died of a single gunshot wound to the head, the local coroner's office said.