Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was suspected of gunning down a young mother of two daughters at the national park near Seattle.

Barnes is believed to have fled to the remote park on Sunday to hide after an earlier shooting at a New Year’s house party near Seattle that wounded four, two critically. Authorities suspect he shot ranger Margaret Anderson later on Sunday.

The SWAT team members were searching for the armed and dangerous man in quite horrendous conditions. They were even equipped with snow shoes to get through the snow and hopefully reach the suspect sooner than later.

Sadly, Barnes seems to be the result of war. He was over in Iraq for some time and has had trouble adjusting to reality here in the states. The young man apparently suffers from post-traumatic stress and at times felt suicidal, according to friends and family.

After a custody dispute with his daughter’s mother, she spoke out about how he had felt and why she had wanted the restraining order against the father of her child.

The woman told authorities he was suicidal and possibly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after deploying to Iraq in 2007-2008, and had once sent her a text message saying ‘I want to die.’

It’s tough to see such a young man lose all sight of reality after such a traumatizing experience, but then again, it’s tough to see a young man take the life of a mother, 34-year-old, who also had a husband that worked closely with her as a Rainier ranger as well.

All in all this is a perfect example of how war is a bad idea for the people who are commissioned to go over there and fight a battle they know nothing about as well as the people who are waiting for their return and have no idea what to expect. These soldiers should be given some medical care and attention when coming back from such a horrendous situation. These are usually young boys, with no idea of how to truly cope with the reality of what they see everyday, and we simply accept that they act like men and nothing has phased them.

Barnes’ temper led him to shoot at 4 different people at a house party in front of children. After that, he runs and hides (like he’s been taught to do in the armed forces) and is willing to protect himself at all costs. Unfortunately, the cost was Mrs. Anderson’s life. Many people were ruined on this day.

A plane searching the remote wilderness for Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, on Monday discovered his body lying face down on the mountain hours from where authorities could get to him.

Anna, 3, Katie, 1, and Barnes child will now forever have lost a parent thanks to the tragedy that was caused (initially) overseas.

SOURCE

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• Iraq War Vet Who Shot Park Ranger Freezes to Death in Escape Bid (ibtimes.com)
• Mount Rainier killing suspect found dead in creek (sfgate.com)
• Benjamin Colton Barnes, Iraq War Veteran Suspected Of Killing Park Ranger, Reportedly Found Dead (huffingtonpost.com)
• Man suspected of shooting park ranger from Westfield is believed to have been found dead (nj.com)
• Mt. Rainier Body Is Murder Suspect: Police (people.com)
• Park gunman ‘died from the cold’ (mirror.co.uk)