LEBANON, Pa. (WHTM) -- With the knowledge that Travis Shaub, who police say shot at four officers, had mental health issues, could this tragedy have been prevented? Probably not.
But it raises the question if police departments could benefit from easy access to mental health professionals who could assist them.
Experts say one thing is clear, helping police and the public stay safe starts with better mental health treatment plans.
Shaud was no stranger to police, but familiarity has no bearing on what happened Thursday afternoon.
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"He suffered from a years-long history of mental illness and mental issues, said Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf. "Family attempts to intervene, to provide assistance were met with his utter resistance."
Graf didn't say what his mental health issues were, prompting him to shoot at four officers, killing one of them.
"Mental illness is something that is so individualized and so different for each person, that it's very difficult to throw a blanket over the situation and say this will fix all the problems," said Christopher Dreisbach, CEO of Blueprints for Addiction Recovery.
Dreisbach launched "Gateways," a program that makes peer specialists available to police 24/7 for mental health calls in all of Lancaster County.
"In the instance, we're talking about it wouldn't have helped a whole heck of a lot specifically on that day that this tragedy happened. But it is extremely important to have professionals ready to respond 24 hours a day seven days a week with law enforcement," Dreisbach said.
He knows there are no blanket fixes for every problem.
"What we can do and we have the ability to do here in central Pennsylvania is be dynamic and be fluid and really come up with programs that will help our communities and come up with programs that will prevent future tragedies," Dreisbach said.
This is his message to those struggling with mental illness: "Please reach out. Please be willing to get some help. And do what you can for yourself and live the life that you deserve. And hopefully, we can avoid as many tragedies as possible because this is horrific stuff."
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