Crime scene tape is replaced by flowers and balloons on the corner of Greene Street in Abbeville where 41-year-old Dwight Brown was fatally shot Wednesday after he shot at Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Deputy.
"He was everything you wanted in your life," said his best friend Tabitha Levine.
According to Louisiana State Police, VPSO deputies were ordered by the coroner to pick up Brown and bring him to a hospital after a family member indicated he "wanted to kill people in a church."
Friends and family say Brown served in the United States Army for ten years. When he returned home, they say he struggled with acclimating back into normal life. He allegedly experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, for several years.
Levine says family members tried to get him help.
"He wasn't himself, he was in a whole other place," she said. "You have to sit there and listen, that's the only help you can give him."
Officials say once they came to the house, Brown started firing shots with a rifle. The deputies turned around to go back to their car, but the shots didn't stop. Troopers tell us that's when one deputy was hit and then returned fire.
"It was a nervous thing, it was a jump, he was terrified," said Levine. "Something is coming at you and you don't know what to do."
If you or someone you know is experiencing PTSD, you can call the National Center for PTSD at 1-800-273-8255.
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