Years before FBI found his threat to a Memphis church, Florida officials attempted to get him help

The truck driver who allegedly threatened a mass shooting and suicide at a Memphis church has a reported history of being a danger to himself, according to sheriff's office reports from his Florida hometown. 

Reports obtained by The Commercial Appeal about Thomas Matthew McVicker, 38, in Charlotte County, Florida, show that over the course of a year, officers at the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office documented evaluations of McVicker’s mental health three times, ending in two trips to a crisis services center. One of those times, according to a report from August 2014, McVicker told an officer that he would kill himself if left alone for the rest of the day and evening — and he was looking for a gun. 

McVicker’s threat of violence in Memphis, revealed Tuesday in federal court filings, is one of a handful of other recent threats across the country that were thwarted after authorities received tips from the public. These threats were made in the weeks following two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. 

In an affidavit describing McVicker's plans, McVicker texted a friend that he was "thinking about shooting up a church" in Memphis, killing others and himself. The documents say that McVicker, a truck driver, had requested time off to be in Memphis on the date he planned the shooting.

McVicker's mother confirmed to authorities that her son had a handgun and sometimes uses cocaine and methamphetamine, according to the affidavit. She also confirmed that McVicker is undergoing treatment and on medication for schizophrenia.

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Despite the threats attributed to McVicker, experts say only a small percentage of violent acts are committed by people with mental illness. 

“Most of these threats and acts of violence are made by people that don’t have a psychiatric diagnosis, that are angry for a variety of reasons,” said Iverson Bell, psychiatry training director at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He noted that, generally speaking, schizophrenia would be a “rare cause of something like this.” 

Less than 1% of the U.S. population suffers from schizophrenia, according to data cited by the National Institution of Mental Health. About 4% of that 1% might become violent, Bell said. 

It’s also difficult to predict whether or not an individual will be violent, Bell said, except that generally speaking, people who have been violent before are more likely to be violent again, he said.

According to an American Psychological Association study on gun violence prevention, it is more common for mental illness to contribute to suicide than homicide.

Reports show history of mental health evaluations by law enforcement

McVicker’s mother called Florida law enforcement to evaluate her son in September 2013, the first of the three evaluations by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. In the report, dated Sept. 2, 2013, a responding officer described how McVicker’s mother wanted her son “Baker Acted” after displaying “abnormal behavior.”

Under Florida's Baker Act, people displaying problems related to mental health can be evaluated and provided with appropriate mental health services, voluntarily or involuntarily, based on the situation.

McVicker’s mother described to the police that her son would put towels over bird cages because “they gave him headaches and he thought they were a demon.” He also “mentioned something along the lines of 'maybe it would just be easier if he was dead,’” according to the report.

McVicker’s mother sent her son to a nearby hotel, and when the officer followed up with him, he denied ever expressing thoughts of suicide. McVicker “assured me that he did not want to harm himself or anybody else,” the report states.

The report says the responding officer then called McVicker’s mother to tell her that he did not meet the criteria for the Baker Act. She replied that her son was “putting on a good show,” according to the report. The officer replied with a suggestion to contact the office again for a well-being check the next day. 

McVicker was again evaluated according to the Baker Act when an officer responded on July 7, 2014, to a suspicious person call. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Officer asked McVicker if he would meet with a professional, and McVicker said he would, according to the report. The officer dropped him off at a crisis services center.

The final report says that when the responding officer contacted McVicker on Aug. 11, 2014, McVicker said if left alone, he would kill himself and that he was looking for a gun. The report states that McVicker met the criteria for the Baker Act and was taken to a crisis services center.

“Certainly, if someone verbalizes suicidal tendencies or thoughts, then that’s just about automatic” that they will be taken to a crisis center, said Skip Conroy, supervisor of community affairs for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. 

Conroy said a growing number of mental health calls to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office presents a challenge for law enforcement officers. In the eyes of the sheriff’s office, a successful response to a mental health call is a Baker Act evaluation and, if deemed necessary, transport to a crisis center.

“It is our goal to get them (people in mental health crises) help,” Conroy said. “It is our goal not to have them hurt themselves or anyone else. So if we can assist them in that respect, that’s what we intend to do.”

McVicker in custody:Man accused of planning Memphis church shooting to have mental evaluation

Several factors complicate proper mental health treatment 

A common criticism of the Baker Act is that “too many people cycle through with little or no follow-up treatment, including those who are seriously ill,” the Orlando Sentinel reported in 2017.

Receiving help once at a crisis center can also be complicated, said Bell, the psychiatry training director at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. 

“It’s hard to hospitalize somebody against their will,” Bell said. It’s a multi-step process in most states. And when people are dropped off at crisis centers by law enforcement, for example, Bell said, without much background information or medical history, it’s difficult to know if the person should be hospitalized. 

Receiving proper treatment is complicated in Memphis, too, Bell said, by the lack of accessible community health centers. Compounding the issue is a lack of funding for these services, affordability of medications and stigmas associated with receiving help for mental illness. 

"The bottom line is there's not enough treatment available," Bell said. "People are afraid of getting treatment, and it's just not as available as it used to be." 

Tennessee lacks legislation that removes firearms from those in danger of harming self, others 

Some 17 states and Washington, D.C. have new legislation in place that allows firearms to be temporarily removed from owners deemed in danger of harming themselves or others. The legislation, known as “extreme risk” or “red flag” laws, has received bipartisan support.

Tennessee Rep. John J. DeBerry Jr., of Memphis, introduced red flag legislation in February 2019, but it was recently stalled.

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Florida passed red flag legislation in 2018, inspired by the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This was about five years after the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office evaluated McVicker for the first time.

It is not apparent from the police reports whether or not McVicker had access to a gun at the time of two of the three evaluations. The incident report for July 7, 2014, says that the officer did not find McVicker to be in possession of any weapons.

McVicker was apprehended Monday in Indianapolis before carrying out any plans in Memphis. He will undergo a mental evaluation before his case is transferred to Alabama. 

The perceived relationship between mental illness and gun violence in the United States was recently in the spotlight, following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Part of President Trump’s comments on the shootings focused on mental illness as a cause, “not the gun.”

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a Health and Human Services directive on Aug. 5 “warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval,” alarming some government mental health experts.

“To say that scientists and experts who know the data and facts best are not allowed to speak — that’s very concerning,” Dominic Sisti, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies ethics in mental health and psychiatry, told The Washington Post. “It’s especially alarming that they’re doing this at a critical moment when what we need most is research and evidence-based facts about mental illness.

If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino