Fort Bragg, N.C. — Linda Tisdale, of Bryan, Texas, had planned to see her son on Thursday for the first time in three years.

Instead, she will bury him.

Lt. Col. Roy Tisdale, 42, of Alvin, Texas, was killed Thursday afternoon during a safety briefing at Fort Bragg, where he commanded the 525th Brigade Special Troops Battalion.

Military officials say Spc. Ricky G. Elder, 27, of Hutchinson, Kan., opened fire, shot Tisdale and another soldier before turning the gun on himself.

Tisdale died of his injuries Friday, and the third soldier, Spc. Michael E. Latham, 22, was injured but survived.

"The children bury their parents, but you don't bury the children," Linda Tisdale told KBTX News in Bryan, Texas.

Her son's body will be transported to Texas this week, and the family plans to hold a funeral on Thursday.

A Texas A&M graduate, he will be buried in the Aggie Field of Honor, an area of a College Station cemetery set aside for Aggies and their supporters.

Roy Tisdale, a married father of two, had survived deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and received decorations including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Meanwhile, the Army Criminal Investigation Command is still looking into the shooting and what might have prompted Elder, who was facing a court-martial for stealing a tool kit.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Tuesday that Elder had posted on his Facebook page about an hour before the shooting that his "mind, in the past couple of years, has folded on itself" and that he had just learned that he "tested positive for dementia."

He had also posted his medical records, which described him as suffering a concussion from an explosion in Iraq, according to the newspaper's report.

A friend told the newspaper that Elder had a traumatic brain injury and should never have been deployed to Afghanistan.

The friend said Elder was not a "cold killer" but a war hero.

The newspaper also reported that he had expressed bitterness about his upcoming court-martial.