Hollister: John Patrick Bedell was a brilliant and seemingly gentle computer whiz, yet so withdrawn that people in this rural community where his parents and grandparents are civic leaders knew little about him - until he opened fire at the Pentagon this week.
Family and friends now paint a portrait of a troubled man who sank deep into mental illness and anti-government rants, even as his mother - a nursing instructor - tried to seek help.
"The family tried over and over to get him into some kind of treatment, but because he was an adult, they were restricted," said Reb Monaco, a family friend for three decades. "Patrick himself was in some sort of denial."
It is still unclear why Bedell opened fire at the Pentagon entrance on Thursday - wounding two police officers before he was fatally shot - though he had railed on the
Internet about his distrust of the government and his distaste for marijuana laws.
"We may never know why he made this terrible decision," his devastated family said in a statement yesterday. "One thing is clear though, his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character."
Bedell, 36, a graduate student in electrical engineering at San Jose State University, was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive, and had been in and out of treatment programs for years.
PTI
