Widow blames the Veterans Administration, Metro for husband's death
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The widow of the man shot and killed by police early Monday morning is speaking out against the VA. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- The widow of the man shot and killed on Monday says Metro isn't the only agency responsible for the Gulf War veteran's death.
Rondha Gibson says her husband, Stanley Gibson, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer, but piles of paperwork from the Veterans Administration show the agency repeatedly changed it's view of that diagnosis, and both she and a long-time friend claim what happened to Stanley Gibson is happening to countless veterans nationwide.
Gibson says the VA shares blame for her husband's death.
"100 percent. They are 100 percent responsible for what they did to my husband," Rondha said. "They killed my husband."
Gibson saidd VA doctors took her husband off his medication. Over the years, they also decided the Gulf War veteran did and did not need to be classified as disabled.
Friend and former co-worker Marsha Oritt, a social worker who deals with veterans suffering from PTSD, feels the VA hurts vets rather than helps them.
"They're just trying to get away with the minimal that they can, and if they dance you around the block enough you'll go away," Oritt said.
Oritt remembers years of Rondha Gibson fighting the VA on her husband's behalf.
"It was just a constant nightmare for them both," Oritt said. "Lots of tears. Lots of frustration. Lots of upset."
Oritt says the Gibson's battled VA doctors and an agency that repeatedly changed his disability compensation from 100 percent to as low as 30 percent.
Rondha Gibson says the most recent cut in disability payments was the reason they lost their house, and just last week, moved into the apartments next to the condos where Stanley Gibson was shot.
" If they had just listened to the man listened to me and stopped canceling his appointments and make sure he had his medications on time, we would have been ok," Rondha said.
A VA spokesman told Action News the agency will not comment on the specifics of Stanley Gibson's case.
A Metro spokesman told Action News not to expect any details on the officer who shot him to be released until Wednesday.
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