DENVER – A Veterans Affairs document obtained by The Associated Press says the gunman who killed a Colorado sheriff’s deputy escaped from the mental health ward of a VA hospital in Wyoming in 2014 but was located and returned.
The document was provided to the AP by a congressional aide on condition of anonymity because the aide was not authorized to release it.
The document was first reported by The Denver Post.
Colorado authorities say Matthew Riehl fatally shot Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish and wounded four other officers on Sunday. Riehl was killed by a SWAT team.
The VA document says Riehl was hospitalized at the veterans medical center in Sheridan, Wyoming, in April 2014 after a psychotic episode. It says he escaped but was found and brought back.
The document identifies Riehl as an Army veteran who was honorably discharged.
