EUCLID, Ohio — Northeast Ohio veterans are mourning one of their own after a call to Euclid police for domestic violence ended in gunfire Sunday night.
RELATED: Euclid police say officer fatally shot man who had rifle during response to domestic violence call
The shooting happened at a home in the 1400 block of East 219th Street just before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, after a woman called 911 to report being assaulted.
According to Euclid Police, when officers arrived at the house, the caller was outside the home and had visible injuries. She told police that her 3-year-old child was inside with a man who had access to several guns.
Euclid Police said the man, now identified as 37-year-old Robert Riddlebarger, refused to come out when ordered, and officers then went inside the home to get the child.
"During the encounter, officers were confronted by a male suspect, who was armed with a loaded rifle," Euclid Police said in a news release. "An officer discharged their firearm, striking the suspect."
After the shooting, officers rendered first aid until EMS arrived and took Riddlebarger to a nearby hospital, where he later died, police said.
Body camera footage of the shooting was released on Tuesday.
The video the department released appears to be several clips edited together and is redacted with blurs, bleeps and a freeze-frame when it appears the suspect is shot.
"I feel so bad for the officers involved here. Not only does our heart break for Robbie and his family and his, you know, his girl that's all beat up, and she's not just beat up, she has broken stuff going on, and now he's got a 3-year-old daughter that won't have her daddy. But like the officers involved, you know, we don't fault them. They did what they're supposed to do. You can't raise a weapon at the officers," Abigail Edwards told me Tuesday night.
Edwards said she has known and been friends with Riddlebarger for eight years.
The pair met through Cincinnati Patriots, an organization for veterans.
"He came from hours away and made that effort to come be in the community. He was, you know, struggling with isolation and just feeling a little bit lost and needing buddies like we all do. I was really proud of him for making that effort to drive hours in, and with time, he started bringing his family," Edwards told me.
Edwards said Riddlebarger was a combat engineer, jumpmaster, paratrooper and ranger.
"He served with the Twenty-seventh Engineer Battalion, which is located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the Airborne Rangers and Special Operations Forces," she added.
He also studied with the 57th Sapper Company "Rough Terrain" and jumped with the Nevada Red Horse Squadron as a sapper, which is an elite military combat engineer specializing in mobility, counter mobility, and survivability.
According to Edwards, Riddlebarger was deployed to combat zones in Afghanistan, the Congo, and Haiti.
Edwards said he helped with disaster relief as well.
Since leaving the service, Edwards told me Riddlebarger faced challenges, which she thinks may have amplified Sunday night's incident.
"I know he struggled with his anger and PTSD," she said. "He was inebriated to the maximum, drunk on alcohol, and he takes psych meds, which you're not supposed to drink on them because it makes you black out. I also know that Robbie has had previous engagements with the police and in other cities where they swatted his house, took weapons, so he had this predisposition in his head that they were out to get him."
According to the National Library of Medicine, U.S. military veterans are a known high-risk group for adverse psychiatric outcomes, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorders, and suicide.
Edwards believes that, as a result, his decision-making skills were skewed.
"What I think is that in that moment when they showed up, he knew he'd screwed up bad beating up [his baby mama]. He knew he'd screwed up bad. He knew the police were there because he'd done wrong, and he knew they were there and they were going to take his daughter," she said. "When he held that rifle up, it wasn't necessarily to hurt the officers in his brain. He was defending his daughter. Not at all making excuses, just rationalizing what I think happened in his sick mind at that time."
Edwards described Riddlebarger as "not a bad guy. He was a sick guy."
"We're all kind of crazy. You gotta be kind of crazy to have these jobs, but that's what makes it beautiful. At the same time, you're taught to be tough and resilient. I'm going to always miss him. He was a true friend. I mean, he'd do anything for you. You want Robbie on your team. One thing I know for certain is that Robbie's made it into heaven. He was a God-fearing man, and he may have gotten a talking to from God when he got there, but I know he made it there to heaven, and the angels are helping his soul right now with the Lord," Edwards said.
While she knows Riddlebarger was seen at least once a month by a psychiatrist, she wishes he had reached out for more help.
She now hopes his story will serve as a tale of caution to other veterans.
"For the vets, please use the VA resources. Please. It's not being coward, it's being brave to heal," Edwards said.
The Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System provides comprehensive health care services in 18 locations.
Those services include access to same-day emergency mental health care, cutting-edge PTSD treatments and more.
Veterans can make an appointment or register for care HERE.
Additionally, VA offers 24/7 confidential crisis support for Veterans and their loved ones.
You don't have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to connect.
Dial 988, then press 1 or click HERE for more information.
