US Soldier Kills 7 in Elaborate Bid to Fake PTSD

An American soldier opened fire inside a Florida retirement home Saturday, killing 7 in a dramatic bid to reinforce his false claim that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, Army officials say.

Sergeant Ryan Huff, 29, who began pretending that he was suffering from the psychiatric illness shortly after returning from his sixth tour of duty in Afghanistan last month, walked into Leisure World in Fort Myers at 2pm yesterday and began shooting its elderly residents at point blank range with a .45 automatic before putting the gun to his own head and killing himself.

"An alarming number of veterans and servicemen have begun simulating the symptoms of PTSD in order to receive additional benefits, as was the case with Sgt. Huff," remarked Major Noah Sokol, Huff's therapist.

Sokol pointed out that, unlike the readily verifiable damage associated with physical injuries, Huff could easily fake the effects of a mental condition like PTSD.

"Oh, I can't sleep at night. I can't concentrate. I keep having flashbacks of my buddy getting blown to bits. Boo-hoo. My wife forgot to buy paper towels and I beat her half to death, and so on. Everyone has stress in their lives, but resilient people deal with it and move on," Sokol said.

According to a source inside the Army, Huff's corpse will be returned to Afghanistan as scheduled to serve its 7th tour of duty next month.