The veteran who killed himself in the parking lot at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin Friday has been identified as Gary Pressley, 29, of Barnesville, according to the Laurens County Coroner’s Office.
Pressley was found in his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his chest and was pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m. Friday, said Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley.
His sister, Lisa Johnson, said she called the Veterans Affairs Department to report that her brother was threatening suicide just moments before he killed himself, 13WMAZ reported. His mother, Machelle Wilson, told the news station he served in the Navy and was medically discharged in 2012 after a car accident.
“It was just a battle with the medication, the doctors, and just, I watched him cry, because he couldn’t get the help he needed,” Wilson told 13WMAZ.
Another veteran died by suicide outside the main entrance to the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur Saturday. He has been identified as Olen Hancock, 68, of Alpharetta, according to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The VA said it would review its policies and procedures to see if changes are needed.
“Suicide prevention is VA’s highest clinical priority,” the agency said in a prepared statement this week. “One life lost to suicide is one too many.”
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