RS Shooting Raises Questions About Country's Mental Health System

An officer-involved shooting in Roaring Spring last Friday evening that left one man dead has raised questions about the effectiveness of the mental health care system.

At approximately 4:16 on Friday afternoon, July 26, police were called to the parking lot on the area of the Dollar General store in Roaring Spring after the Blair County 911 Center received multiple calls of a man acting erratically.

An officer from the Roaring Spring Police Department arrived on the scene to find Todd Messner, 49, of Three Springs, in the parking lot of the Roaring Spring True Value Department Store, 7565 Woodbury Pike, and attempted to make contact.

Investigators said Messner produced a handgun and raised it toward the officer, prompting the officer to fire his service weapon, striking Messner in the chest. Messner was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Pennsylvania State Police major cases team was dispatched to the scene to take over the investigation and began interviewing witnesses.

State Police Spokesman Christopher Fox said the investigation is ongoing and asks that anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.

"If anyone who may have seen anything that didn't report it to the police, we ask that you contact the State Police in Hollidaysburg," he said.

While police have not released the number of witnesses interviewed or what they said, one woman and her daughter, who asked not to be identified, said they encountered Messner in the Dollar General parking lot just moments before the shooting.

"We came out of the store and he was standing behind our car waving his arms around and saying, 'I need help with my kids, who will help my kids,'" the daughter said.

The woman said Messner didn't appear to threaten anyone, and there have been no reports of him trying to harm any bystanders.

Messner was a veteran, having served tours in Iraq and Kosovo as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, Second Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment.

Messner's wife, Ada Jays Messner, said in a Facebook post that her husband has PTSD and that she had tried to get him help as recently as a week ago.

"I have been trying to get him help and had a 302 (involuntary commitment) petition granted, but the ER doctor said he was not a threat to himself or others," she wrote. "I told the state police, crisis and the VA that I feared something was going to happen."

Mrs. Messner went on to write, "I called everyone to try to get him help only to be told there is nothing they can do."

Blair County Coroner Patty Ross said better funding for mental health care and crisis intervention can help prevent incidents such as this and called for it to be more accessible.

"In health care, mental health monies are not enough to support the number of individuals who need help," she said.

Ross said this incident produced two victims, Messner and the officer.

"I consider this as two victims," she said. 'The officer who has sworn to protect us and the deceased who suffers from abuse of drugs and depression."

Ross said the officer was doing the job he was sworn to do, which is to protect the public.

Ross said the number of calls to the 911 center to report Messner's behavior before the shooting shows that people are becoming more aware of their surroundings and not simply walking away and ignoring something that seems off.

"I praise the people who called 911," she said. People are becoming more alert to things that are out of the ordinary."

An autopsy was performed on Saturday, July 27. Ross said Messner died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

State Police continue to investigate and said more details will be released as they become available.