Army Veteran Mark Harmon Gets Jail Sentence For VA Hospital Threat

BENTON, Ill. — An Army veteran who threatened a shooting rampage last year at a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital has been ordered to spend a year and a day in federal prison.

A judge also sentenced 30-year-old Mark Harmon of Shawneetown on Monday to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Harmon pleaded guilty in January to attempted possession of a firearm on federal property with the intent to commit a crime.

Police at the VA hospital in Marion arrested Harmon last October after he told a nurse by telephone that he was armed and was "going to fill that place with lead."

Prosecutors say authorities found a loaded semiautomatic handgun, a magazine filled with 13 bullets and 13 loose rounds of ammunition in Harmon's truck.

Comments

[gmb007]

10:38 PM on 04/21/2010

Yes, what is the rest of this story? Lots of details missing.

[tallpine]

06:38 PM on 04/21/2010

The story is not complete. Many Vets have had the same desire for many good reasons. I myself am one. What was his beef? Did a doctor say his PTSD was a condtion he brought with him to Iraq? Or the hole in his head was not all that bad. The VA is not a good system when it comes to taking care of veterans after they have been used up on the battle field.