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Preventable Factors

Preventable Factor Details

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Takeaway(s): —Child custody disputes require kid-glove treatment. Preventable Incident Factor(s): —Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s) – Vexatious Cascade of Events Beset Perpetrator(s): The perpetrator suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PDST) following an horrific barge/tug boat accident in 2007 which severely injured the perpetrator’s legs, resulting in permanently disability, and killed a deckhand. In court documents filed for divorce and custody proceedings in September 2008 his doctor diagnosed the perpetrator with post-traumatic stress disorder (PDST). “… [A]ccording to Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, where he worked aboard the company’s fleet of sportfishing boats for about 10 years. … Before that mishap, he was a well-regarded worker and friend — just one of the guys, Ashley said. ‘Everybody loved him.’ … But that all changed after the accident. As he coped with the injuries to his legs, he was bed-ridden and having surgery after surgery. Once trim and muscular, he became overweight. ‘The last four or five years, he was pretty miserable,’ Ashley said. And the companies he had worked for struggled to find him work. In one conversation, he told Ashley the circulatory and nerve damage and pain were so bad he would have been better off if he had lost his legs. When he and his wife … divorced, they fought over [legal] custody of their 8-year-old son, with whom [the perpetrator] had a deep attachment, Ashley said.” His doctor also stated in court documents that repeated phone calls from the perpetrator’s ex-wife were “extremely stressful” and “not healthy” for him. As a result, the court limited contact between them to only one phone call a week. 1 However, another source states that the the ex-wife said in court documents “I have learned that it is wisest to avoid conflicts with him at all costs. That means not only avoiding physical confrontations but avoiding verbal ones as well.” 2 In addition, “Following an incident … in 2007 involving his stepfather, a restraining order was filed against him [the perpetrator], barring him from possessing firearms. The order lasted a year and had expired at the time of the shooting.” 3 Editor’s Note: Child custody disputes are tough. The best way to ensure a child custody dispute doesn’t become an issue is to not have one in the first place. That sounds easy, but it isn’t. However, if you bend over backwards to make child custody work for both of you, regardless of past absences and/or transgressions and/or other issues you can avoid ugly child custody disputes in many cases. Early and often, it’s best to talk about what it’s all about—the child or children. A neighbor of the ex-wife summed it up best: “It was all over a custody battle. Now … [the 8-year-old son is] left with no one.” 2 (The perpetrator killed his ex-wife during the incident and he was sentenced to eight terms of life imprisonment without parole and one term of seven years to life for attempted murder.) It should also be noted a court hearing had taken place on October 11, 2011, the day before the incident, which recommended a near-equal custody arrangement. Currently, we have been unable to determine if the perpetrator knew about this decision. Source(s): 1. Santa Cruz, Nicole; Barboza, Tony; and Rubin, Joel. October 14, 2011. “Suspect a Haunted Man”. Los Angeles Times. Retereived August 31, 2021, from https://archive.ph/20130127162030/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1014-seal-beach-gunman-20111014,0,701356,full.story#selection-1407.0-1415.49. 2. Barboza, Tony and Santa Cruz, Nicole. October 13, 2011. Seal Beach Shooting: Suspect Suffered PTSD From Boat Injury. Los Angeles Times. Retereived August 31, 2021, from https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/10/seal-beach-shooting-suspect-suffered-ptsd-from-boat-injury.html. 3. Berg, Tom. October 16, 2011. “Michelle Fournier: Custody Dispute May Have Led to Ex-Wife’s Death”. Orange County Register. Retereived August 31, 2021, from https://www.ocregister.com/2011/10/16/michelle-fournier-custody-dispute-may-have-led-to-ex-wifes-death/. 4. None. Last Edited July 23, 2021. Wikipedia. “2011 Seal Beach Shooting”. Retereived August 31, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Seal_Beach_shooting.