Law Enforcement Officers Arrive,
One with His Weapon Drawn
Who Would Want to Punish or Kill this Veteran?
Greg Hendrix was relaxing on that Sunday on June 18th 2017 when his day was interrupted by a Claremore Police Department officer arriving at his home. The reason? A welfare check after the Veterans Administration suicide hot line had taken a lead from a public official here in Oklahoma. Greg is a Marine, a real combat veteran, so he wasn't too put out when the officer asked if he was okay, explaining that his police department had been given the tip to check on Greg. Greg was more amused than put out, his recent back surgery had left him somewhat disabled and in a lot of pain, so being a snarky ass grunt he was entertained by his thoughts that the cop must be moonlighting as a neurosurgeon or pain management doctor if he thought he could help.
Then the second officer arrived with his taser drawn and pointed at Greg. Number 2 cop was a young pup, full of piss and vinegar, ready to rock and roll, but the older cop that was first on scene waved him away and continued his investigation by questioning Greg. Greg's sense of humor was active on this new development as well, perhaps this was a new electroshock therapy offered by the V.A..
Most of you will realize that this was a “swatting”, a phone call or online report that gives erroneous information to law enforcement in the hope that a confrontation might occur and the target harmed or even shot dead by the police. And let's all be honest; these days when you call the cops on someone you have to know that it could lead to their death. Might be the cop's fault, might be the victim/suspect's fault.
How this came about
We have in our possession a Mental Health Crisis Intervention Note dated June 20 2017, obtained by the victim after he became aware that he had a mysterious recent report in his V.A. file. Daphne A Hillhouse wrote the report as part of her job at the V.A.. Toni Brenson with the V.A. National Suicide Prevention Hotline had received a phone call from an Oklahoma State Representative asking that the V.A. check on Greg. A phone number was provided by the State Rep, allegedly the phone number of Greg's brother, along with Greg's full identity data such as date of birth, full name, and Social Security number. Toni then called this “brother” at the number provided and it was a twelve minute long phone call starting on 6/18/2017 at 7:03 pm, and she labeled her report as a medium to high suicide risk situation. The “brother” stated that Greg had become different since he returned from his two tours of Iraq, with more of a temper and bouts of rage. The caller claimed that Greg had tried to kill him about a year earlier and that he the caller had not had further contact with Greg since.
Next the “brother” stated that while trying to clean out his mother's storage area, the workers there informed him that his brother Greg had been harassing them and even threatened them with a gun.
Toni is concerned and she offers Greg's “brother” two choices; either the local V.A. emergency team could go out and visit Greg and assess his situation or she could do a PSAP. What the hell is a PSAP? It stands for Public Safety Answering Point, AKA a 9-11 call center. The “brother” chose the PSAP so the Claremore Police Department were notified of the alleged suicidal Iraq veteran with a short temper, bouts of rage, and allegedly prone to waving a gun at people.
Now let that sink in a bit. What could go wrong sending in the cops instead of the experienced V.A. emergency team?
Daphne tried calling Greg using the phone number in Greg's V.A. file but it was an old number and cell phone providers had been changed. Greg's last visit to the V.A. was four years earlier as his surgeries to fix his combat damage had concluded in 2013 and Greg used the Indian Health Services for future problems due to the dysfunction at the V.A.. Daphne duly reported the unanswered phone calls and closed out the case a few days later with no contact.
Wow, was this “brother” clueless? Nope, you see Greg hadn't seen or talked to his brother in several years after a falling out. His brother didn't call the State Rep's office and leave his number. His brother didn't take the call from the V.A.. His brother darned sure didn't choose to call the cops on Greg and take the chance of Greg being killed.
Obviously this was a swatting effort to harass, perhaps diminish the credibility of Greg Hendrix, a Marine combat vet that had no PTSD issues, was not taking any medications for mental issues, was not involved in any way with any mental issues or stress.
The next question; who posed as his brother? Who asked this State Rep's office to get involved and report a veteran in trouble? And why this happened. That will be for another segment of this story but first the next story will have you scratching your head as the mystery deepens around this entire horrific mess of a story.
Stay tuned for Part II
