Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gunman Who Killed 4 At Manhattan Office Building Had CTE, Coroner Finds
The gunman who killed four people in a Midtown Manhattan office building in July had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries sustained in football and other contact sports, according to the New York City medical examiner鈥檚 office. The disease, known as C.T.E., can be diagnosed only posthumously. Shane Tamura, the gunman, killed himself after the shooting spree at 345 Park Avenue. (Belson and Marcius, 9/26)
The person accused in a fatal shooting and fire Sunday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, is a 40-year-old area man with a military background. Officers killed Thomas Jacob Sanford in a parking lot behind the church, police said. Sanford joined the Marine Corps in 2004. He was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, records show. (Romero, 9/28)
A lone gunman killed three people and injured five others at a packed North Carolina waterfront bar late Saturday in what police described as a 鈥渉ighly premeditated鈥 attack. Nigel Max Edge, 40, was detained by the Coast Guard and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon on Sunday morning. Southport Police Chief Todd Coring told reporters that Edge is a 鈥渟elf-described鈥 combat veteran who was injured in the line of duty and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Edge served in the Marines from September 2003 through June 2009, according to military records. He attained the rank of sergeant and was deployed twice as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Madani, Gilchrist and Gallo, 9/28)
An Illinois bill proposes a novel approach to gun regulation and gun violence prevention. The Responsibility in Firearm Legislation (RIFL) Act, if passed, would subject firearm manufacturers to a variable licensing fee: The more often their guns are found to have been used in injury-causing incidents, the higher their fee. The money would go toward compensating gun violence victims or to cover other costs associated with gun violence. (Pattison-Gordon, 9/29)
