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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 22 May 2018

Pastor: Mental illness drove man to ram car into his family

BESSEMER CITY, N.C. (AP) for a court-appointed at- window. said. friends, but he didn't elabo-
— A man suffering from torney and was ordered The pastor said the family Katelyn Self, 26, was a four- rate.
severe mental illness left jailed without bond on wasn't initially concerned year veteran of the Gaston Rammell, whose church is
a meal with his family and two charges of first-degree when he got up, figuring he County Sheriff's Office, the listed in a directory of the
then drove his sport utility murder. may have been suffering sheriff said in a news re- Southern Baptist Conven-
vehicle at high speed into The Selfs are a family of first from anxiety. lease. She had worked as a tion, said Self had been ac-
the restaurant, killing his responders. His daughter, "They began noticing his corporal in the jail and was tive for decades in a Bap-
daughter and daughter- Katelyn Self was a deputy car out in the parking lot off duty when she was fa- tist congregation that grew
in-law and critically injuring with the Gaston County had circled. And the next tally injured. into Venture Church. He
other relatives, his pastor Sheriff's Office. She and his thing you know he came Authorities said the fam- said Self had served as a
said Monday. daughter-in-law, Amanda through the window," Ram- ily was requesting privacy volunteer youth minister to
Roger Self had been treat- Self, an emergency room mell said. and referred any questions "hundreds and hundreds."
ed for depression and nurse, were killed as the car The pastor said Self had to Rammell. The mission of this church
anxiety that seemed to rammed through the out- seen a psychiatrist and Roger Self, himself a former has always been to help
become more intense in side wall. Amanda Self was family doctor but hadn't law enforcement officer, others, but Rammell said he
the two and a half months married to Roger's son Josh been hospitalized. Ram- ran a private investigations needs to learn more about
preceding Sunday's deadly Self, a Gaston County po- mell said Self told him he business called Southeast- mental illness and the chal-
crash, said the Rev. Aus- lice officer. was taking medicine for ern Loss Management, lenges people can face in
tin Rammell of Venture Josh Self and Roger Self's depression and anxiety, mostly working for com- finding treatment.
Church in Dallas, North wife, Diane, were in criti- but he was becoming par- panies to investigate em- "This has been a huge lesson
Carolina. The pastor, who cal but stable condition ticularly unstable over the ployees' wrongdoing. Ram- for me," he said, later add-
is a close family friend, said on Monday, said Rammell, weekend. mell said the business had ing: "I think we as a nation
Self opened up about his who has been in close "It was a roller coaster, and been going through an are very ignorant about it,
problems about 10 weeks contact with the family. A in the last few days it went unspecified "transition" that and we need to get non-
ago, when he asked his son 13-year-old granddaughter from bad to really bad," he required the help of some ignorant about it.q
to take his guns away from of Self's was treated and
him. released from the hospital,
"His family and close friends police said.
have intensely labored to At a news conference
try and get Roger help. We Monday, officials with the
all feel a level of guilt," the Bessemer Police Depart-
pastor said at a news con- ment declined to elabo-
ference. rate on Self's mental health.
The pastor said Self's judg- But police spokesman Rob
ment had become im- Tufano said evidence gath-
paired, but he didn't imag- ered so far shows the crash
ine he would hurt his family. was intentional.
He said his friend may have "It is abundantly clear that
hoped to die in the crash, this was not an accident;
and that "It's very possible that this was something
that Roger imagined in his Mr. Self had intentionally
mind that the best thing for done," Tufano said.
his family is that they all just Katelyn Self had arranged
go together." Sunday's after-church
The crash sent stunned pa- lunch, inviting her fiance
trons scrambling at the Surf and his parents as well, be-
and Turf Lodge, about 30 cause she was hoping that
miles (50 kilometers) west of her father would feel better
Charlotte. Self was immedi- if he were surrounded by
ately arrested. family, Rammell said. They
Shackled and wearing an had ordered drinks and ap-
orange jumpsuit at a hear- petizers and were talking This frame grab from video provided by WSOC-TV 9 in Charlotte, N.C., shows a scene where a
ing on Monday, he showed and laughing after being man intentionally rammed a vehicle into a restaurant busy with a lunchtime crowd, Sunday, May
20, 2018. (Courtesy of WSOC-TV 9 via AP)
little emotion as he asked seated at a table near the