WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - The family of a South Florida supermarket shooter is speaking out in a statement, claiming they warned deputies about the gunman’s mental health well before the shooting.
Timothy Wall, according to his family, was a sick man who suffered from mental illness.
Last week, he walked into a Publix in Royal Palm Beach and killed a 23-month-old boy, shooting him point-blank in the head. Then as the boy’s grandmother tried to fight him off, he shot her and then himself.
In the statement, Wall’s family said in part, “His family made numerous efforts to provide him with the care he needed. In addition to being hospitalized for mental illness, Mr. Wall at various times attended psychological counseling. The family asked for help and notified sheriffs deputies on numerous occasions, formally and informally that Wall was in need of mental health services and had surprisingly acquired a firearm.”
Wall and his then-wife Monica Wall divorced in 2018. He was going through bankruptcy and had no money to his name.
The statement says his ex-wife said she was unsure if he was seeking mental health treatment in the last few years.
Wall’s family is upset after Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw made the following statement last week.
“The real sad part of this other than the fact that two people are dead is that there was a chance this could be stopped. You know why? The reason is, he’s on Facebook. He has said, ‘I want to kill people and children,'” Bradshaw said. “He’s got friends. Obviously they saw that. His ex-wife said he’s been acting strange. He thinks he’s being followed. He’s paranoid. You think a damn soul told us about that? No.”
PBSO fired back in a statement saying, “Respectfully, PBSO received only two calls from Mr. and Mrs. Wall, the first, on May 27, 2019 and the second on June 21, 2019. At no point was Timothy Wall’s mental stability ever mentioned.”
The sheriff’s office doubled down on the sheriff’s original statement, saying, “Timothy Wall’s family and friends may have been aware of his behavior and should’ve notified authorities, but by their own admission, the family states, that they were not aware of Mr. Wall receiving any mental health treatment since the divorce in 2019.”
Wall lived just a few doors down from the little boy, and his family is expressing their deepest condolences to that family, saying there are no words to express the sadness and sorrow. However, regardless of what words are used on both sides, two lives are gone and nothing they say will bring them back.
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