Pastor: Depression preceded fatal crash into restaurant
BESSEMER CITY, N.C. — A North Carolina man accused of crashing a car into a restaurant table full of loved ones, killing two, had suffered for weeks with depression and previously asked his family to take his guns away, his pastor says.
Roger Self faces two counts of first-degree murder after authorities say he got into the sport utility vehicle during a family meal and then drove it at high speed into the restaurant on Sunday. The crash killed his daughter and daughter-in-law and critically injured two other relatives seated at the table near a window.
“His family and close friends have intensely laboured to try and get Roger help. We all feel a level of guilt,” said the Rev. Austin Rammell of Venture Church in Dallas, North Carolina.
The pastor, who is a close family friend, said Self opened up about his problems about 10 weeks ago, when he asked his son to take his guns away from him. Self has been treated for depression and anxiety that seemed to become more intense in the weeks since.