FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A Foxborough woman said her son’s father suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is what she claims led him to fatally shoot their son last week before turning the gun on himself.
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“He wasn’t a monster. He was one of the greatest guys you could ever meet,” said Laurie Tolliver. “He was caring, he was smart, he was intelligent. He was an RN, he was a mountaineer, he served this country for a long time; he was a proud American.”
Tolliver said Billy Scaccia served in Iraq in the 1990’s and developed depression and PTSD. Thursday night, Scaccia shot and killed their 6-year-old son Anthony at her house before turning the gun on himself, according to the District Attorney’s office. Tolliver said she was at work at the time.
“He didn’t think in his mind what he was doing was wrong,” Tolliver said. “He thought that he was protecting his son from all the awful things that could happen. He wasn’t a vicious person. He loved his son more than anything in this world, so I think this was his last act of protection.”
Anthony had just started kindergarten at Burrell School in Foxborough, his mother said. Tolliver described her son as an outgoing and fun-loving boy who was the “life of the party.”
Tolliver said she is speaking out to raise awareness about depression and PTSD, as she hopes she can encourage others with PTSD to get treatment.
“So he tried to do the best he could until the demons got the best of him. In his mind, it was the only way, there was no other way,” Tolliver said.
Scaccia was arrested last Monday and charged with carrying a firearm without a license. The police chief said he had denied him a weapons permit due to previous arrests.
Funerals for Scaccia and Anthony will be held later this week.
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