Paragraph 11 reads: "Willard was taking antidepressants and had been receiving counseling, Cuellar said."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/02/0602swat.html

PUBLIC SAFETY

Friend: Man shot in SWAT standoff was depressed

Man was distraught about a separation from his wife and son, close friend says.

By Claire Osborn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, June 02, 2009

A man critically injured when he was shot early Monday during a standoff with the Travis County SWAT team was distraught about a separation from his wife and son, a close friend said.

Friends identified the man as Douglas Willard, 34, but sheriff officials would not confirm the name Monday night.

Officials also would not release the name of the officer involved in the shooting.

Willard has been living in a house behind his parents' home in southeastern Travis County in the 4000 block of River Road. Willard's parents called the Travis County sheriff's office about 11 p.m. Sunday, sheriff's officials said.

When deputies arrived, the man came out of the house with two guns, sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said. The deputies called in the SWAT unit.

Willard came out of the home again about 2:45 a.m. with a shotgun, Wade said, and was shot once when he lifted the weapon.

Willard was taken by STAR Flight helicopter to University Medical Center at Brackenridge in critical condition, Wade said.

No one else was injured, he said.

According to Roland Cuellar, who said he has known Willard for 20 years, Willard had argued with his mother and told her that there was no purpose in him being alive.

"He's not a troublemaker," Cuellar said. "He's the kind of guy if you had a flat tire, he would stop and help you fix it."

Willard was taking antidepressants and had been receiving counseling, Cuellar said.

"He had reached out for help," Cuellar said. Willard, who recently worked for the IRS, has been unemployed for about two months, Cuellar said.

Willard graduated from Del Valle High School and worked for years at Home Depot as a stocker, Cuellar said. Willard had guns because he was a hunter, Cuellar said. He also went fishing weekly with his father at Lake Bastrop, Cuellar said.

cosborn@statesman.com; 445-3871