The man who killed 18 people in Maine late last year had significant brain damage that likely played a role in his shooting rampage, according to experts who have analyzed his brain post-mortem.
The man, who The Daily Wire is not naming due to company policy about not giving notoriety to mass killers, had brain damage that is consistent with what experts see in military veterans who have had prolonged exposure to explosive blasts.
The man was a U.S. Army reservist and a longtime instructor at an Army hand grenade training range where he was exposed to more than 10,000 grenade blasts, according to a report from The New York Times.
The Maine Chief Medical Examiner’s office requested the Boston University CTE Center conduct the post-mortem study of the man’s brain.
“[The man] had evidence of traumatic brain injury,” said Doctor Ann McKee. “In the white matter, the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain, there was significant degeneration, axonal and myelin loss, inflammation, and small blood vessel injury. There was no evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).”
“These findings align with our previous studies on the effects of blast injury in humans and experimental models,” she added. “While I cannot say with certainty that these pathological findings underlie [his] behavioral changes in the last 10 months of life, based on our previous work, brain injury likely played a role in his symptoms.”
The man began losing his hearing in 2022 and, with it, reportedly developed a hot temper. He started to lose weight rapidly and believed that people at places he liked to go to were talking about him behind his back and calling him a pedophile.
The family said in a statement that was published by the Concussion Legacy Foundation that they were “deeply sorry and heartbroken” for the victims and their families. The family said that the results from the test are not “an excuse for the horrific suffering he caused, but we thank Dr. McKee for helping us understand his brain damage and how it may have impacted his mental health and behavior.”
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“By releasing these findings, we hope to raise awareness of traumatic brain injury among military service members, and we encourage more research and support for military service members with traumatic brain injuries,” they added.