Injured Iraq veteran from Dayton kills himself at VA medical center

April 18, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

DAYTON

An Iraq War veteran who killed himself outside a Veterans Affairs medical center had been injured in the back by shrapnel in Iraq and was in pain, according to a family member and a friend.

Jessie Huff, 27, of Dayton, wore military fatigues as he shot himself twice with an assault rifle Friday at a monument to soldiers outside the center, authorities said. He had been a patient there and visited the emergency room in the hours before the shooting.

Cousin Jason Osborne, of Wilson, N.C., said he saw Huff two months ago when Osborne visited his grandmother in Dayton.

“He was a really good guy. He just went through a lot after he got out of the Iraq war,” said Osborne, 32. “It really affected him mentally. He wasn’t the same when he came back.”

Authorities said Huff, who served in the Army from 2003 to 2007, appeared to have no intention of harming anyone else.

A VA worker said Huff had been injured by an explosive device in Iraq, and Osborne said his cousin was hit in the back by shrapnel.