Shooting suspect a veteran
Friend says former Marine has post-traumatic stress disorder
Friends say a man accused of shooting his girlfriend to death before attempting suicide on the Gonzaga University campus is a former U.S. Marine who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Tristen N. Jordan, 24, remains at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Angela Gilbert, of Spokane, said he’s under heavy police guard and that his family has not been allowed to see him.
“Never in a million years would we think he would have shot somebody,” Gilbert said. “He really is a loving and kind person, and he’s all about religion.”
Jordan, who Gilbert said is her daughter’s godfather, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Samantha Clark Franco, 20, whom police found bleeding from gunshot wounds to her face and neck in an apartment at 807 E. Augusta Ave. about 1:40 a.m. on Sunday.
Franco’s mother, Cara L. Clark, said she was in bed when she heard a thud and heard Jordan yelling “she’s evil” as he ran from the apartment, according to an affidavit supporting a murder charge against Jordan. Clark called police and said Jordan had been her daughter’s “on again, off again” boyfriend for about eight months. Franco recently told Clark that Jordan owned a handgun, but Clark said she didn’t allow guns in her home.
Gilbert said Jordan, a student at Spokane Community College, was on medication for post-traumatic stress disorder, “but he’s been having problems with doctors and everything else,” she said.
Gilbert said Jordan fought in the Iraq war and has been home for about a year. She said he recently divorced and wasn’t looking for a serious relationship.
“He was trying to get his life together,” she said. “He didn’t like to go to bars. He didn’t like to be around a lot of people.”
She said Jordan seemed “kind of down” lately and had said he wanted to move to Jamaica. She said she last talked to him a couple days ago and he told her his plans had changed. He said they’d talk later, but they still haven’t.