I tell you that this is only the early stages of many unfortunate incidents to come. The military is forcing many highly qualified and deseving young men and women out on the streets. The officers are finally eating their own without regard to the overall impact of a rapid downsizing. VA can't even handle their caseload now. The question is..."was this Soldier asking for help?" The post deployment screening process is a joke and they know it!

"only one officer fired at the soldier. Doesn't anyone find this odd that only one officer fired his weapon?" - airbornemonty

It certainly causes one to think. Did that one cop overreact? Did the other two not see it as a threat? We're the other two slow in accessing the danger? Or did the soldier REALLY point his weapon? We'll never know. The cops statement is the standard response you always see: dude told to drop it, dude didn't, we shot him. And the trend is usually for other cops to backup the shooter, no matter what the truth may be.

In this day and time, and with technology, I think all interactions of cops with the public should be video taped. It can be done, and within budget constraints (as long as you don't hire Haliburton-like companies).

...correct treatment that he was so desperately seeking for his problem. What good is all of that suicide awareness training the Army goes through if they don't do the due diligence before a good soldier like Salalazar makes a bad decision that ends his life?

Very sad. I am interested to see the outcome of this investigation. Was the weapon loaded, was the soldier recently deployed, why did the police not negotiate from a safe distance, did the soldier fire any shots at the police, etc.

I wish the police in areas around military bases had more extensive training and tactics to deal with service members. I believe that someone with the right type of training could have talked this soldier into lowering his weapon and getting the help that he needed.

I personally have a concealed carry permit and carry a firearm, and believe in lethal force, but I believe that it should be the very last option; this article does not lead me to believe that the officers had no other options. - muer7osunavez

I happen to work in the same building as SSgt. Salazar. It was obvious that he was suffering from PSTD. The thing is, he was trying to seek help for it for the benefit of him and his family and, unfortunately, didn't get the right avenues or correct trea

LoveSomeGolo, for crying out loud man, think! If the person pointed his weapon at the three police officers their first reaction would have been for all three officers to fire their weapons at the same time.

I have seen the same thing in combat. Anything out of the ordinary and everyone begans shooting at the sametime, it is our body's natural reaction for self-preservation.

But the question is still there, why only one shooter?