Did war's demons follow Iraq veteran in I-94 chase?

ALEXANDRIA, MINN. - When Brian William Skold died shortly after dawn Sunday on a rural stretch of interstate highway in central Minnesota, he may have been drunk. Members of his family told authorities that he may have been suicidal.

Was he still at war? Members of his family said no.

Officers tried for 90 minutes to negotiate with the Iraq war veteran as they chased him along and off Interstate Hwy. 94 before he fired two or three blasts from his shotgun. Officers responded, shooting Skold dead, and the body of a Minnesota National Guard specialist who survived a 13-month deployment to Baghdad lay dead.

"We want you guys to know that this incident was not a direct result of his service in Iraq. He loved his country and he served it proudly," his ex-wife, Amanda Skold, told reporters Tuesday.

Others aren't so sure.

"I don't know enough about his situation, but it doesn't surprise me that we're seeing more incidents like this," said James Schulze of rural Stewart, Minn., whose son Jonathan, a 25-year-old Marine veteran, committed suicide in January.

The Schulze family alleged that Jonathan twice told staff members at the St. Cloud Veterans Medical Center that he felt like killing himself and that they turned him away. A report by the VA's Office of the Inspector General said those allegations could not be substantiated, but a federal investigation has led to procedural changes at the hospitals.

"My heart goes out to these parents," James Schulze said Tuesday. "Obviously, [Brian Skold] had issues. ... The magnitude of the problem -- it's a time bomb waiting to go off."

Don Pappenfus, a Vietnam-era veteran and a Sauk Rapids City Council member, also wants to know whether the mental scars of combat could have been a factor in Skold's death.

"They're going through hell over there, and then some of them are coming home and not getting the help they need," he said. "I'm mad about it."

What officials know

It's unclear what sparked the chase and standoff with Skold, Douglas County Sheriff Troy Wolbersen said. But family members told authorities that Skold, who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, had been suicidal since getting home, though they seemed to back off from that in their statement Tuesday.

Members of Skold's family's called for help shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday. Skold's truck was spotted by authorities about a half-hour later as he traveled west on I-94. He was followed into a rest area 2 miles east of Alexandria, where a sheriff's deputy joined in on a cell phone conversation with him.

Skold left the rest area and drove into the city of Alexandria, where members of a city-county SWAT team took up the chase, authorities said. He then went back onto I-94 and drove east until officers used "stop sticks" to disable Skold's 1994 Chevrolet pickup just beyond the exit at Osakis, Minn., about 120 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.

As a deputy continued to negotiate with him, Skold left his truck several times, brandishing his shotgun. The second or third time he fired the weapon, officers returned fire. A doctor at the scene pronounced him dead.

Two veteran Alexandria police officers have been placed on administrative leave because of the shooting: Sgt. Chad Schroeder and officer Tony Kuhnau. Alexandria Police Chief Richard Wyffels said the officers may be reinstated by the end of the week. Up to 15 officers took part in the chase and standoff.

Authorities said they had no information about Skold's mental or physical condition beyond the family's warning. They emphasized that the investigation continues, and they offered no clear link between Skold's behavior and his time in Iraq, but his death comes at a time of increasing concern about mental-health issues among returning military personnel.

An autopsy in Skold's death is being conducted by the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.

The shooting occurred about 6:55 a.m., and a portion of the freeway was closed until about 3 p.m. Sunday.

Wolbersen would not say which relatives had contacted Skold by cell phone during the incident, citing a continuing investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA is expected to turn its results over to the county attorney in a week, the sheriff said.

In good standing

Skold enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard on Dec. 30, 1998, said Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, Guard spokesman. Skold served with the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery based in Montevideo and was deployed in Baghdad from late 2004 through 2005. He was in good standing at the time of his death. The 151st lost three men in combat in Iraq.

Olson declined to discuss possible causes of the incident. "Once police make their final report, we'll be able to evaluate that," he said.

Skold was not a patient at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, according to Ralph Heussner, public affairs officer there. It was not known whether he had contact with the St. Cloud Veterans Medical Center for problems arising from his service in Iraq.

Kari Pearson, who lives on a farm neighboring the one where Skold grew up, said that he was divorced recently but "was a wonderful father" to his four children.

"I don't think we ever will understand" what happened, said Pearson, who added: "He was very sociable and enjoyed life. He was so proud to go to Iraq."

Pappenfus said he and other vets discussed Skold's death during Memorial Day observances in Sauk Rapids.

"We all stood there in the cemetery, and I shook my head," Pappenfus said. "I said, 'Here we go -- another one.' "

He said he will seek more aggressive screening for problems among returning combat veterans in a planned visit with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials next month in Washington, D.C.

"I don't think the president and the government are doing their job with these young men and women who are coming back from the war zones and trying to turn their lives back to a regular world again,"he said. "Something's bothering them, and the screening isn't there."

Pappenfus said he talked with Skold two or three times after he returned from Iraq. "He was a great guy, and it shocked me when I heard what happened," he said.

'Model student, respected'

Skold was a graduate of Lac qui Parle Valley High School in Madison, where Principal Jon Fulton said that teachers recalled him as "a model student and a respected young man."

Mike Bredeck, 58, a counselor at the high school when Skold attended, said he "came from a good, hard-working family" that lives on a farm outside the town of 1,700. "Brian reflected that in every way," he said.

He was the middle of three children, and younger brother Jeremy served alongside him in Iraq. His father, William, is a carpenter. His mother, Margaret, worked at a Madison bank.

The family attends St. Michael's Church in Madison, which is Bredeck's church. Brian Skold's picture was displayed there during his deployment.

"When his unit came back, we were all happy to see them," Bredeck said. "You expect they'll come back and go on with the next phase of their lives."

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