Killer Cop Told Police He Was In Mental Health Facility; Still Got Hired: Report

RIVERSIDE, CA — The Virginia cop who killed three people Thanksgiving weekend in Riverside told a prospective employer that he had checked himself into a mental health facility years earlier, but the law enforcement agency still hired him, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, is believed to have catfished a Riverside teen into believing he was a 17-year-old boy, driven across the country, killed her mother and grandparents, and set their home on fire, police have said. Edwards died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after fleeing with the girl — who was rescued — and engaging officers in a shootout, according to police.

Edwards became a Virginia state trooper earlier this year but resigned to work as a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in the fall, according to authorities. State police said last week Edwards never behaved in a way that would require a probe by the agency nor did his mandatory background check indicate cause for concern. The sheriff’s office said his past employers did not disclose any issues.

However, a review of records by the Times revealed Virginia State Police knew Edwards had struggled with his mental health.

In 2016, when Edwards was 21, he threatened to kill himself and his father after scuffling with and biting his father and cutting his own hand, the Times reported last week, causing emergency custody and temporary detention orders to be issued for Edwards.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller told the Times last week that Edwards had not disclosed the incident and that if the agency knew the circumstances under which Edwards was detained, he would not have been hired. She also previously said “human error resulted in an incomplete database query during Edwards’ hiring process,” the Times reported. Edwards said in an interview as part of the agency’s vetting process that he had voluntarily checked himself into the facility, according to the Times.