NEWS

Oklahoma restaurant shooter underwent treatment after driving to Grand Canyon in February for suicide try

Nolan Clay
In this image from a YouTube video, Alexander C. Tilghman talks about demons.

The Louie's shooter underwent treatment in February at an Arizona mental health facility after threatening to kill himself by driving into the Grand Canyon, newly released records show.

Alexander C. Tilghman, 28, had told his mother four times Feb. 16 and again Feb. 17 he was going to commit suicide, the records show.

He was taken to The Guidance Center in Flagstaff a few days later after he was found in his car in the parking lot at the Grand Canyon National Park after closing.

The new details come from the Oklahoma City police investigation of his random attack on a Mustang woman, her two daughters and another girl May 24 outside the Louie's Grill & Bar at Lake Hefner.

Three in the group were injured.

Tilghman — a direct descendant of a legendary Oklahoma lawman — was killed moments later during a confrontation with two armed civilians.

Police found no note in his car or at his Oklahoma City apartment that would explain his motive for the shooting, the records show. He had not worked at Louie's and managers there did not recognize him as ever being a customer.

The youngest victim, Syniah Giles, 12, recalled the gunman "shooting at the ground" when she looked over at him after he had fired at her group, police reported. He "was not saying anything, just shooting," according to a report of her May 26 statement at Children's Hospital.

One witness told police the gunman walked away from Louie's "nonchalantly" after firing at the entrance. Another witness described the gunman as "pacing back and forth" in a grassy area afterward.

In YouTube videos posted in April, Tilghman had talked of demons being everywhere and of being tortured by Satan. Some of his videos were recorded at Lake Hefner.

"Yeah, man, I'm really losing it," he said in one video. "I'm having like all these, you know, crazy thoughts, like, you know, maybe I'm in some movie or something like that or I'm a character in a video game."

Police found in a search of his mother's home in The Village a drawing of a soldier with liberals "must die" written above it.

Frustrated with women

Police detectives concluded he may have targeted the victims because they were females. Police found evidence he was frustrated with women.

His mother, Heather Tilghman, told Nichols Hills police Feb. 17 in a written statement "today ... my son Alex told me he was planning to end his life if he didn't meet a woman," the records show.

Tilghman talked on YouTube of going crazy from being alone. "There's really no point in living if I can't find ... real humans. I mean I'm just looking for a friend. Guy or girl, I don't care," he said.

Police found he had gone online in January seeking a female companion for a cruise and "some good sex." He wrote he was "not picky."

An Oklahoma City police detective learned about his threat "to drive off of the Grand Canyon" and his treatment in Arizona from his mother. The detective notified the mother early May 25 of her son's death.

"Heather was immediately distraught," police detective Douglas Hurst reported. "Heather stated she wanted to take away his gun and tried to. She elaborated he had purchased a pistol once he received his CLEET security guard license."

She told the detective her son had "a history of mental health problems," but had only obtained treatment for about a week at the Arizona center, according to his report. Asked for details of his stay there, "she became emotional and yelled for me to call them," the detective wrote in a report.

The mother stated she further knew her son to have mental health issues from his YouTube videos, the detective wrote.

"Heather began blaming herself for his death," the detective wrote. "She said she wanted Alexander to get additional treatment at St. Anthony's (Oklahoma City)."

Notes recovered from the mother's home reveal she was told by The Guidance Center that Alexander Tilghman was "preoccupied with being social."

Parents contacted police

The mother went to police in Nichols Hills in February because her son was staying at his grandfather's house there. The grandfather died in 2013.

Nichols Hills police went to the home early Feb. 17 for a welfare check because of the mother's concerns, according to reports. He told police he was fine.

"Mr. Tilghman stated his mother had called the police on him a week ago in California for the same reasons," reports show.

Later that day, both his father and mother went to the Nichols Hills Police Department and stated "they were in fear that Alex would indeed follow through with his threats if not stopped," reports show.

Because of those fears, Nichols Hills police began pinging his cellphone and located him in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at a Motel 6, reports show. Police there contacted him Feb. 18 and he said again he was fine and that he was headed to Las Vegas to see a friend.

On Feb. 19, the mother said authorities in Arizona told her "they located Mr. Tilghman at the Grand Canyon sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot after the park was closed," according to the reports.

She said he had been taken in for a mental health evaluation that would last three to five days, according to the reports.

His parents did not return phone calls from The Oklahoman for comment.

Getting therapy at age 10

Their divorce records show he was getting therapy from a psychologist when he was 10.

The father was given custody of Tilghman and his younger brother in the 2001 divorce. A custody evaluation done by a court-appointed expert found that the mother had "treated the children in a manner that could be characterized as emotional abuse," the records show.

"The mother has been unable, even during the evaluation period, to control her outbursts, screaming and even physical altercations with the oldest child," the father complained in the divorce case.

"The mother's bedroom is unsanitary," the father also complained. "There are piles of dirty clothes almost knee-deep in places."

The father's divorce attorney, Laura McConnell-Corbyn, told The Oklahoman the case was "just so tragic."

"That case was a perfect example of all of the lawyers and judge in the system working together to try to help get the children into a better environment, but there is only so much you can do," the attorney said. "Every time I hear someone refer to him as 'the shooter' it just breaks my heart.

"He was Alex. And he never really had a chance."