KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A family is grieving after police shot and killed a man during a disturbance call on Tuesday.
41-year-old William Charles McBride Jr. died on Wednesday. His family called the Iraq combat veteran a "gentle giant" and "best friend," asking people not to judge their loved one — who they say struggled with a decades-long battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and drug use to cope with horrors he experienced overseas.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is still investigating to determine the precise details behind why a Knoxville officer shot McBride during a disturbance call on Tuesday.
The Knoxville Police Department said officers initially responded to calls about a man acting aggressively at the Fountain City Exxon on North Broadway across from the Fountain City Park and Duck Pond. A responding KPD officer confronted McBride outside the store, and the TBI said McBride appeared to be armed with at least one knife. The officer shot and hit McBride at least one time. He was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
McBride's wife, Elisha McBride, and his stepdaughter, Charish Johansen, spoke to WBIR on Friday. His family said he graduated a few years ago from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor of science in social work. They said he was trying to help fellow veterans struggling with homelessness.
"He was my best friend"
The family said they've endured comments people have been making about McBride online for the past few days as they try to process their grief. They are asking people not to judge the father, uncle, son and military veteran they loved based on things posted online by people who never met him.
"It's been very tough. People on Facebook have their own scenarios that go on, and I don't like seeing them drag his name in dirt, because he really was a good man and has done a lot for people," his stepdaughter said. "He was amazing. He did a lot of good things for me and my mother... Take us on trips, spoil us. He made sure we had the best of the best."
Johansen said her stepfather was her best friend. She said he lived with her and her mother for years, but he recently left the household to be with his parents in Mississippi after he "got into drugs really bad." She said he had just returned to Knoxville last week.
"I genuinely don't believe he would hurt anybody. I really don't," she said. "He'd always see the good in every scenario."
His wife, Elisha McBride, said she met her husband ten years ago. The two had been married for seven years. She said he joined the military out of high school and was discharged in 2004.
"He just hadn't had any peace since he's come back," she said.
"Only part of them come back home"
Elisha McBride said her husband would leave the house whenever he was "on his mission." She said his PTSD made him believe at times he was back at war in Iraq, and to cope he sometimes used drugs such as crack cocaine and methamphetamine.
"He never brung it to the house. He never brung anyone to the house whenever he was on it. Whenever he was tired and ready to come back home he would come back home," she said. "He thought people were coming to kill him. He was trying to run from — which was 'demons' — but it was people from the war who was trying to get to him."
Elisha said her husband wouldn't leave for more than a month usually and sometimes would be okay for months to even a year. She said he would be in and out of the hospital and rehab.
"Sometimes the demons would come back into his head and he would just run off," she said. "He was a gentle giant. He wouldn't want me to see him like that because he was embarrassed."
Elisha said she last spoke to her husband around 4 a.m. on the day he died, after he accidentally texted her. She said she did not believe he was holding a knife at the time he was leaving the Exxon station when the officer shot him.
"We have had our mistakes, don't get me wrong, but he's a gentle giant. He wouldn't hurt a soul," she said. "He was romantic, he was kind, we would just cuddle up and watch TV, play with the dog. He was my best friend, and they took my best friend away from me."
Elisha said her husband would often go to the Fountain City Duck Pond across the street from the Exxon station to clear his mind or go fishing. On Tuesday, she was woken up by the TBI at her door and she learned he had died.
"A big teddy bear was all he was. He took care of my kid since she was 9 years old. He also went through me having to bury another kid," she said, also saying he was by her side through several difficult times in their family.
McBride's mother, Johnnie McBride, said her son was a caring and loving person who was hurt deeply by what he experienced in war.
"PTSD has hurt a lot of our young men. Going into a war zone at 21 years old was no easy task for him or his family," she said. "Only part of them come back home."
McBride's mother-in-law, Debbie Johnson, said despite his battle with drug use — he wasn't "this drug-crazed maniac" that some people were making him out to be.
"He did treatment. He did everything he could. Iraq messed him up," she said. "He was a good man when he was to himself. You couldn't ask for a better person. He didn't do drugs because he was an addict. He did drugs because it was an escape — trying to get out his head the things he saw in the war that he couldn't live with."
Resources for Veterans and Their Families
Whether you need someone to listen or want to seek professional counseling, you are not alone and there are resources available.
- Coaching Into Care is a national telephone-based support service for family members and others who want to help reluctant veterans access their VA health care benefits, particularly for mental health issues. Call: 888-923-7458
- Department of Veterans Affairs has a variety of mental health services to address a wide range of service-related needs. Some services are available even if you’re not enrolled in VA health care.
- Knoxville Regional Veterans Mental Health Council acts as a "bridge" between veterans, the VA Medical & Mental Health professionals and the community support or veterans service organizations to improve communication and break the stigma around seeking help.
- McNabb Center offers a Military Services program that can help individuals facing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance use, co-occurring disorders, thoughts of suicide and other invisible wounds incurred from service. These services are privately funded and provided to military families at no charge.
- NAMI Homefront is a free, six-session educational program for families, caregivers and friends of military service members and vets with mental health conditions. Its Tennessee helpline is 800-467-3589.
- Wounded Warrior Project offers the Warrior Care Network to provide lifesaving clinical mental health care for veterans managing PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and combat stress.
HOTLINES
If you have an immediate emergency, dial 911.
Veterans Crisis Line
Online Chat: VeteransCrisisLine.net
Text: 838255
Call: 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1
State crisis line: 855-CRISIS-1 (855-274-7471) or text "TN" to 741-741
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Dial 988
Emotional Support Line: 888-642-7886, available from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day
Lifeline Crisis Chat: Chat online with a specialist who can provide emotional support, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention services www.crisischat.org/
Lifeline ofrece 24/7, gratuito servicios en español, no es necesario hablar ingles si usted necesita ayuda. Cuando usted llama al número 1-888-628-9454, su llamada se dirige al centro de ayuda de nuestra red disponible más cercano.