Military sniper blames PTSD for armed robberies in Fla.

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/02/military-sniper-blames-ptsd-armed-robberies-fla

Military sniper blames PTSD for armed robberies in Fla.
By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times
McClatchy/Tribune
© February 5, 2014

TAMPA, Fla.

As a Special Forces sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabriel Brown craved danger. Combat satisfied what he called his “adrenaline addiction.”

When he returned home to Florida, nothing in civilian life provided the sense of invincibility that made combat so alluring and vital. The sniper-killer was now a nursing student. There was a hole in his life, but he found a way to fill it: robbing banks.

He robbed with a military flair. On Feb. 5, 2013, Brown whipped out a gun and tossed an M83 military smoke grenade during a robbery of a TD Bank branch in Auburndale, Fla., that netted $19,000. It was his final crime in a two-week string of robberies that targeted banks, a cellphone store and an insurance company.

Brown was arrested the next day on federal charges that carry a mandatory minimum of 32 years to life. He quickly confessed.