Suicide victim in standoff was vet, soldier at Carson

The man who shot himself to death during a standoff with El Paso County sheriff's deputies early Saturday was identified Tuesday as Army Spc. Larry Applegate, 27, a decorated Iraq war veteran stationed at Fort Carson.

Deputies responded to a domestic violence call at Applegate's home, 6830 Harding Drive, late Friday and found Applegate's wife outside saying her husband was in the house firing rifles.

The gunfire continued for the better part of an hour and when it ended, the SWAT team found Applegate dead inside.

Applegate, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was a twice-deployed Iraq war veteran awarded the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal with Valor.

He joined the Army in 2004.

The suicide left Fort Carson officials grieving and looking for answers, the post's commander, Maj. Gen. Mark Graham said Tuesday night.

Graham, who lost a son to suicide has been a leading proponent of Army suicide-prevention efforts and is hosting a pilot program for prevention training at the post this week.

"We have to let them know that it's a sign of strength not weakness to come forward and seek help," he said.

The soldier was in the post's Warrior Transition Unit, which is designed to assist soldiers with war-related medical or mental health problems.

"He was a good, young soldier," Graham said. "Just a good young soldier. It's tragic. We're all taking it hard."

"This soldier was dealing with a lot," he said.

Graham said he was saddened that outreach efforts didn't get the soldier to seek help.

"We try to get them to ask for help before they feel like there's no help available," Graham said.

Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Army has faced a rising tide of suicides, many of the linked to war-caused post-traumatic stress disorder. Last year the Army launched a service-wide campaign to combat suicide.

Graham praised those efforts, but said there's more to do.

"I'm tired of doing investigations into what happened in these cases," he said. "We have to get ahead of this issue."

The training program at the post this week is aimed at educating spouses of soldiers on signs of suicide and prevention methods. Graham said by getting families involved he hopes to stop more tragedies.

"They're all hard," he said. "But this one is just, golly."