Wednesday 17 August 2022 08:55 AM Mother of man who shot himself after driving into Capitol barrier blames ... trends now
The mother of a man who shot himself after smashing his car into a barrier outside the Capitol says she believes he suffered from brain trauma from playing football.
Richard A. York III., 29, from Delaware, drove into the barrier at East Capitol Street and 2nd Street in Washington at 4am on Sunday before firing shots into the air and then turning the gun on himself.
His mother Tamara Cunningham said his high school football career left him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE, which has affected many professional and amateur football players.
York suffered a number of head injuries and concussions in his playing days, and while a diagnosis can only be made after a post mortem, Ms Cunningham has already requested one from a private doctor and local coroner's office.
She told the Guardian: 'Something was going on for a while. And it was progressively getting worse.'
In confirmed CTE cases, friends and family have often suspected the condition before it was officially diagnosed because of their erratic and aggressive behaviour.
Richard A. York pictured on his Facebook page back in 2017. The suspect has a lengthy criminal record going back to 2012
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said that investigators believe that York set his own car on fire prior to taking his own life
A motive for York's actions is still being investigated by police who are probing whether it was politically motivated.
Ms Cunningham said she did not believe her son was especially political or a Donald Trump supporter, after police questioned whether it could be tied to the FBI raid on the former president's Mar-a-Lago home.
She said: 'We're just not that kind of family.'
York has a criminal record mainly in Pennsylvania going back as far as 2012 including burglary and assault.
But Ms Cunningham insisted to NBC: 'We didn't know how much he was hurting.
'He was a good person. He loved me very, very much.'
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told the media in a press conference that officers who approached York following the crash did not hear him say anything.
Manger said: 'The subject has a criminal history over the past 10 years or so, but nothing that, at this point, would link him to anything here at the Capitol.'
York drove into the barrier at East Capitol Street and 2nd Street in Washington at 4am on Sunday
In February 2017, York was charged with burglarizing a pharmacy in Hellerton, Pennsylvania. He was accused of stealing several controlled substances in the crime.
York was charged with burglary (first-degree felony), criminal trespassing (second-degree felony), theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia
In January 2020, York viciously assaulted a co-worker while the two were in the victim's home in Pennsylvania.
York accused his colleague of contacting the suspect's mother and proceeded to beat him, split his TV in half
