By the night Everett Miller is accused of opening fire on two Kissimmee police officers, ultimately killing both, he had been in a mental nosedive for some time, his ex-girlfriend said.
Miller is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who separated from service in 2010, officials said.
His ex-girlfriend, Tara Bracy, said he was very proud of his service.
“(He was) a good person, proud Marine,” she said. “Everything was Marine, Marine, Marine.”
On Aug. 18, though, Miller is accused of gunning down Kissimmee police officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Sam Howard.
After leaving the Marines, Miller started work as military image analyst who helped identify targets for the Department of Defense.
It was that job, Bracy said, that started Miller’s downward spiral.
“I think a structure got blown up, there might have been some children in there or something,” she said. “That bothered him.”
Miller broke up with Bracy via text message in July, three days before he was forced to undergo a mental health evaluation when he was found running around Kissimmee with a rifle while only wearing his underwear.
Even before that, Miller had become jumpy, Bracy said.
“It was something, because he would jump up,” she said. “And several times he jumped up like this, just with a finger pointed (like a gun).”
Miller had been given medication for post-traumatic stress disorder, but Bracy said she saw him thrown the pills into the trash.
In the days after their breakup, Miller changed his Facebook name and made anti-police comments, which was not like him, Bracy said.
“It’s like, that was not him,” she said. “That was not the good man he is.”
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/cmg/f122436b-3aca-4797-8104-895c6bbcd91a.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/WJVERMTCKFHFPBF2LNONHSDB4M.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V5T6NZFGRJGI7LEGINTPSFYMBU.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/B62QQBSTIFBZJOQD2O7LFC3UCY.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/L2KFNXN6HBECTDKV3WUQIPXFTU.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/PI44F546MVFM7HTVD5F6V6TUBU.jpg)