I would like to comment on "His 'demons' were too much" (March 16).

As a parent I can't imagine anything worse than witnessing your child in either the amount of physical or emotional pain that this young man must have been in and not been able to help him. It appeared clear from the onset of this horrible tragedy that Mr. Devine was not interested in harming anyone other then himself. This is a man who was a career firefighter, he rushed into burning buildings to save others, in addition to trying to encourage anyone and everyone he came in contact with to be the best that they could be through his devotion to fitness.

According to Lt. J. Paul Vance it is up to the trained negotiator and the operations commander to decide whether family members should be allowed to talk to someone in a standoff situation. No one can convince me that this young man's father and or brother could not have been safely permitted to try to speak with their son and brother. Who better then to try to reach his inner soul than these two individuals? My heart breaks for this family because they were not given the chance to try.