Pastor: Mental illness drove man to ram car into his family
BESSEMER CITY, N.C. — A man suffering from severe mental illness left a meal with his family and then drove his sport utility vehicle at high speed into the restaurant, killing his daughter and daughter-in-law and critically injuring other relatives, his pastor said Monday.
Roger Self had been treated for depression and anxiety that seemed to become more intense in the two and a half months preceding Sunday’s deadly crash, said the Rev. Austin Rammell of Venture Church in Dallas, North Carolina. The pastor, who is a close family friend, said Self opened up about his problems about 10 weeks ago, when he asked his son to take his guns away from him.
“His family and close friends have intensely laboured to try and get Roger help. We all feel a level of guilt,” the pastor said at a news conference.
The pastor said Self’s judgment had become impaired, but he didn’t imagine he would hurt his family. He said his friend may have hoped to die in the crash, and that “It’s very possible that Roger imagined in his mind that the best thing for his family is that they all just go together.”