Dept. of Veterans Affairs responds to shooting death of Gulf War vet
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The VA talked today about the Gulf War veteran who was shot by police on Monday morning. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- The family of Stanley Gibson - the man shot and killed by Metro police early Monday - is not just angry at the police department. They are also holding the Department of Veteran's Affairs responsible for his death.
After serving in the Gulf War, Stanley was put on a variety of medications to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other health problems. His wife, Rondha, accuses the VA of slashing his benefits, and taking away his medication.
Rondha claims that Stanley had been out of his medication for at least two weeks, before he was shot by police. She says the VA did nothing to help him get more, even though doctors know Stanley acts erratically without the medicine.
"They are 100 percent responsible for what they did to my husband," she says. "They killed him. The system needs to be better. The veterans need to be taken care of."
But the VA of Southern Nevada says it does the best it possibly can to treat every patient. It offers individual doctor appointments, a walk-in clinic for immediate care, and a 24-hour hotline.
"We are extremely focused on patient care," says Chief of Staff, Dr Ramu Kamanduri . "We don't address the financial aspect of things. We don't decide how much money or benefits veterans receive. We only provide the health care."
Determining specific veteran benefits is up to the federal government, and the VA's regional offices. Rusty Neal, at the VA's regional office in Reno, says Stanley's case is under review.
"It's a difficult thing," Kamanduri says. "Dealing with any big agency, is always a challenge."
A challenge that may have contributed to Stanley's death.
"It's obviously a tremendous tragedy when one of our veterans loses a life," he says.
Action News first heard from Rondha Gibson back in July of this year. She reached out to Contact 13 for help regarding Stanley's benefits. We did contact the VA on their behalf, and they told us at that time, they were looking into his case.
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