Food Stamps denied, mother shoots daughter and son and kills herself, all die.

sequoias

sequoias

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Texas mom who shot kids, killed self in standoff was denied food stamps, official says - Crimesider - CBS News


(CBS/AP) SAN ANTONIO - Authorities say a 12-year-old girl shot by her mother Tuesday during a standoff at a Texas welfare office in Laredo has died.

Laredo police spokesman Joe Baeza said Ramie Grimmer died Wednesday at a San Antonio hospital. Her 10-year-old brother was in critical condition.

Their mother, Rachelle Grimmer, was found dead Monday inside a state welfare office in Laredo. Authorities say the 38-year-old killed herself after shooting her children during a seven-hour standoff with police.

Ramie Grimmer's Facebook profile had been updated to read "may die 2day" just hours before the shootings.

The children's grandmother, Mary Lee Shepherd, said Wednesday that Grimmer, her former daughter-in-law, had a history of mental mental problems leading up to the standoff.

The family had been unable to qualify for food stamps for months. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services says the agency rejected Grimmer's application because she did not submit enough information.
 
That is horrible. Why doesn't she go to one of the food banks to get free food?
 
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well, It did not say whole with what happened. I am under the impression that she has two kids who are not babies. So where have she been before? If she had been on food stamp for a while. She could have known how to submit the proper documents unless she has mental issue for sure. Then no one makes report that she needs help. It's sad.
 
I did read the article that she was mentally ill.
 
Yep.. I don't know what caused the mother to flip out like this.. But surely she should have been able to get help for her family. It sounds like something triggered the mother. It seems to have been an all or nothing thing for her.
 
Bottesini said:
I did read the article that she was mentally ill.
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Yes, obviously seriously so. We cannot expect her to act in a logical way. There was evidence that she was a possible harm to herself and to her children from the message posted to her FB page. What a shame that no one did what was necessary to prevent this tragic event. No doubt the caseworker at JFS noticed her erratic behavior prior to her killing herself and her children. Surely family members had some indication that her mental state was getting worse.

At any rate, the article doesn't contain enough information to determine what really was going on.
 
deafskeptic said:
Yep.. I don't know what caused the mother to flip out like this.. But surely she should have been able to get help for her family. It sounds like something triggered the mother. It seems to have been an all or nothing thing for her.
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That would be evidence of certain types of mental illness.
 
Not enough information in the article to come to a conclusion to why this happened.

However, regardless of the reason, again...children were killed for no reason. Geez.
 
its not 'no reason', its desperation, failure, the system fucked her over badly, if she was mentally ill, they should have some means in place to acknowledge this, and provide some leeway to prevent this stupidity of rejection....really sad...
loopholes been plugged in hard, maybe tooo hard..because there ARE honest desperate people out there...
its just shocking, i mean not just the shooting, to me it was the result of system's extreme measure of cutting...that's the result....
 
Grummer said:
its not 'no reason', its desperation, failure, the system fucked her over badly, if she was mentally ill, they should have some means in place to acknowledge this, and provide some leeway to prevent this stupidity of rejection....really sad...
loopholes been plugged in hard, maybe tooo hard..because there ARE honest desperate people out there...
its just shocking, i mean not just the shooting, to me it was the result of system's extreme measure of cutting...that's the result....
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There is no reason for a child to be killed, period!
 
i wasnt saying its right either, im saying that was a sheer extreme action , think of this way,

perhaps she thought, "I cant feed them, i cant feed myself whos gonna feed them? might as well we all die' << that's how bad it was for them....

its like choosing to die instead of leaving oneself's dead in shame and letting kids die of hunger.....or so to that effect..
 
shel90 said:
There is no reason for a child to be killed, period!
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There is no justification for a child being killed. However, combining all things experienced with a mentally ill perspective, there is an explanation for why these things happen. Until we start to address the whys of these things, as a society, they will continue to happen. We need to stop looking only at the individual in these situations, and place some focus on the system that contributes to the individual's response.
 
TXgolfer said:
Some may..... but I have never seen one that required anything but a name.
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I have never seen one that did not require a referral and additional information such as social security number and proof of number of children in the home. There is also a limit to the number of times that a family or an individual can use food bank services per year.
 
Well, from other article...her food stamps were not approved 4 times in a row in 5 months and she flipped off and went postal. They said that she did not submit them sufficient information to make the case open. Food bank is probably other way, some places don't need paperwork and others do need simple paperwork. It depends on the place because I have been there many times.
 
jillio said:
I have never seen one that did not require a referral and additional information such as social security number and proof of number of children in the home. There is also a limit to the number of times that a family or an individual can use food bank services per year.
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Must be your state. :dunno:
 
TXgolfer said:
Must be your state. :dunno:
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Well like I said it depends on the food bank. Some will do every month, some every week some once a year, etc.

Many poor people know what to do just like my experience in the past in WA state.
 
sequoias said:
Well like I said it depends on the food bank. Some will do every month, some every week some once a year, etc.

Many poor people know what to do just like my experience in the past in WA state.
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Absolutely, The food bank I have worked with most is once a week. They only ask for a first name though....that is mainly so that they can later pray for them by name. Some actually refuse to give a first name....they still get the groceries.
 
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