GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) – A man fatally shot by police outside an Alabama school that officials said was trying to enter had “severe mental problems” and attended the school as a child, according to his brother.
Justin White told WIAT-TV that Robert Tyler White, 32, looked a little “off” the last time he saw him last week, but that wasn’t unusual.
“He always seems crazy,” White said.
Officials said a “potential intruder” — later identified as White — went to several doors on Thursday to enter Walnut Park Elementary School while a summer program was being run for nearly three dozen children. All exterior doors were locked and the man was killed after trying to grab an officer’s weapon outside the building, state police said.
Justin White said his older brother suffered from “severe mental problems” and may have tried to have him killed by the police.
White said his brother, whom he called “Bobby,” had been a garbage collector in North Carolina for eight years before returning to Gadsden. The brother went to Walnut Park as a child and never got the mental health care he needed, White said.
“But I thought he was doing well,” White said.
Justin White said he was surprised that his brother was involved in the incident, but added that the man was also a “hot head”.
Authorities have not said whether Bobby White, who previously lived in Bunnlevel, North Carolina, was armed or why he may have been trying to enter the school or a police patrol car that state police said tried to enter before being killed.
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