News Clips
PORTIONS OF BODY CAM FOOTAGE FROM DOUGCO AMBUSH SHOOTING RELEASED
BY: Ryan Haarer and Krystyna Biassou
KUSA - Just over a week after an ambush shooting left both the shooter and a young deputy dead, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office released portions of body camera footage of the firefight and what led up to it.
In an 8-minute long produced video posted to the agency's Facebook page, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock addresses viewers and says he is attempting to answer lingering questions about that morning.
"There’s a lot of information out there and I would like you to hear from me about what happened," Spu...
THERE WERE NUMEROUS MENTAL HEALTH WARNINGS LEADING UP TO THE DOUGLAS COUNTY DEPUTY SHOOTING. WHY WASN’T THE GUNMAN HOSPITALIZED?
By John Ingold | jingold@denverpost.com and Noelle Phillips | nphillips@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
DOUGLAS COUNTY - For the man who killed a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy and wounded six other people, the warning signs were abundant.
At various points over the past three years, Matthew Riehl’s parents, friends who served with him in the Wyoming National Guard, professors at his former law school and law enforcement officers in two states all expressed concern about his mental health, according to official documents and interviews. His mother told ...
MENTAL HEALTH COLORADO CEO: WE NEED MORE EMPHASIS ON EARLY INTERVENTION
BY: Lance Hernandez
DENVER – The Colorado Department of Human Services is ramping up its support of co-responder programs that place mental health professionals alongside police, when officers are handling calls related to people in a mental health crisis.
Those programs are intended to keep jails and prisons from filling up with minor offenders dealing with mental health issues.
“That’s a trend we want to accelerate and continue,” said former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, now President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. “We know ...
Psychologist explains why the DougCo shooter wasn’t involuntarily committed before attack
Anastasiya Bolton, KUSA
KUSA - The mental health struggles faced by the man police say ambushed multiple Douglas County sheriff’s deputies -- killing Deputy Zackari Parrish -- expose cracks in the mental health system.
Documents released by law enforcement agencies from Lone Tree to Wyoming show Matthew Riehl suffered from apparent mental illness and recently resisted his friends' pleas to seek more treatment.
9NEWS shared those documents with forensic psychologist Dr. Max Wachtel, who helps 9NEWS understand issues of mental health. He said police documented a ...
Dealing with the holiday blues
It's the time of year where all the holly jolly can be a little overwhelming.
This article originally appeared on 9News.
Mental health data is lacking, particularly for local youth
BY NAT STEIN
The data available on mental health in El Paso County does not compare favorably to statistics from the rest of the state.
There’s the suicide rate: From 2013 to 2015, El Paso County’s stood at 23.1 per 100,000 residents compared to 19.1 statewide, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) Vital Statistics. There’s the percentage of adults with diagnosed depression: 21.6 percent here compared to 19.3 statewide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. ...
Time to talk: Community members form unique mental health partnership
BY ALEX DEWIND
adewind@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Several Douglas County administrators sat on one side of a large rectangular table. The deputy county attorney was a few seats down, near a deputy from the sheriff’s office. Representatives from area hospitals, public health departments, rehabilitation centers, nonprofits and churches filled other seats. Some people presented; others listened and threw around ideas.
They were at a monthly meeting at Douglas County’s administration building in Castle Rock to brainstorm how they could better serve residents with ...
Report: Colorado among worst states in terms of mental health, especially for kids
By TheDenverChannel.com Team
DENVER – A new report on mental health care in the United States shows that Colorado is worse than most states at treating those who need help, especially kids.
The report from the nonprofit advocacy group Mental Health America compared all 50 states and Washington, DC on things like prevalence of mental health issues and access to treatment and found that overall, Colorado ranks 43rd.
In terms of prevalence, data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that 19.55 percent of Colorado residents ...
Mom wants to spread mental health awareness after family tragedy
By Kyla Galer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - A local mom is trying to spread awareness about mental health after tragedy -- and turns out they are not the only family struggling in Colorado.
When KKTV first aired the Murphy family's interview detailing the horrific night their children were murdered, there was an overwhelming response from the community. Malik Murphy, 20, is accused of stabbing and killing his 5-year-old sister Sophia and 7-year-old brother Noah. While these crimes are unimaginable, many people said they could resonate on some level with ...
Mental-health services are hard to get, state nonprofit chief says
BY PETER ROPER, THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN PROPER@CHIEFTAIN.COM
People needing mental health services are seven times more likely to have to go outside their insurance network for care than patients just needing medical care, according to a national study released this week by Mental Health Colorado.
State law says health insurance providers should be able to provide both medical care and mental health care with parity, but the latest study shows mental health patients are far more unlikely to be able to get care from their providers.
Andrew Romanoff, executive director ...
