Accused Says Drinking Led to S.D. Hospital Killings

Bradford Warren Powers Jr., accused of murdering two and attempting to murder two more who were wounded in a rampage at Mission Bay Memorial Hospital, said Wednesday that he feels “ill inside” for the families of the victims but blames the hospital for the shootings because, he says, it negligently treated his father.

“I know what I did was wrong--there is no question about that. But there were circumstances beyond my control,” Powers said in an interview with The Times in County Jail downtown, where he is being held on $2.5-million bail. “I admitted to the actual, you know, shootings. But my defense is based on the facts of what brought me to that point.

“There is just so much a person can take. The hospital--they were the most negligent. It’s criminal negligence, to me, what they did to my father. And, if they hadn’t been negligent, then this whole tragedy could have been avoided.”

Powers, 46, described himself as a gentle man who has never “punched with a closed fist,” or aimed a gun at anyone “until this horrible, horrible incident.”

“I am the last person in the world to hurt anyone,” he said. “I won’t even swat a fly. If one lands on me, I blow it aside. Unless it’s constantly irritating me, landing on me, landing on me. And then maybe I smash the poor guy.”

Something “snapped,” Powers said, after the death of his father, Brad Powers Sr., 75, who had gone to the hospital’s emergency room twice in two days. On Powers Sr.’s second visit, doctors say, they did everything possible but were unable to save the elder man, a well-known architectural illustrator who died April 14 after suffering an abdominal aneurysm and a heart attack.

Informed in the emergency room’s waiting area of his father’s death, Powers became angry. He returned to the family’s La Jolla home, where he lived with his parents and his two children. There, he said, he polished off a 25.4-ounce bottle of vodka and chased it down with water.

Powers returned to the hospital emergency room eight hours after his father’s death and fired eight rounds with a .22-caliber revolver, police say. A nurse and student medical trainee were killed; a doctor and a patient’s father were wounded.

“I was drinking to relax, and it just magnified the problem,” Powers said Wednesday. “I might as well tell you now, I feel ill every day, constantly ill inside to think that I did what I did to these people. I did it, but I wasn’t in my right state of mind with that damn vodka.”

Police say that Powers did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs or medication when he turned himself in to Oceanside police an hour after the killings. They say a blood test showed that he was not drunk--a fact that Powers hotly disputes. Powers said that, although he could not remember the exact time of the shootings, he recalled that police did not test him until 12 to 15 hours after he had been drinking.

“If I had a chance to do it over, I wish to God that I never touched alcohol,” Powers said. “Without the booze, that episode never would have happened. That goddamn alcohol is a real troublemaker when it’s abused. And I abused it--I needed to relax and calm down.”

Mary Powers, his mother, also said that her son’s drinking triggered his actions.

“He had a whole bottle of vodka. They said he was sober, but he was not sober. He was very drunk,” said Mary Powers, 73. “He didn’t know what he was doing.”

Witnesses say that, before the gunman opened fire, he screamed: “You killed my father!”

Though not willing to discuss what he shouted in the hospital, Powers said, “I yelled something that will come out in the trial. I was pinpointed pretty much by what I said.”

About an hour after the shooting, Powers turned himself in to Oceanside police. After calling police headquarters from a pay phone, he waited at his Corvette for their arrival.

“I realized that it was just a matter of time and they would get me on the freeway,” Powers said. “I figured if they got me on the highway, they might blow me away. And I didn’t want to take the car any further from home. I didn’t want to drive it up to Oregon.”

Powers said he was concerned about jeopardizing his legal defense--a preliminary hearing is scheduled for June--but he agreed to speak with The Times on three separate occasions this week, once in person and twice on the phone.

He said he didn’t want to discuss how he might defend himself against the charges. But, between the alcohol and his grief over his father’s death, he said, “It was temporary insanity. . . . When you go flipping out the way I did there, you don’t realize that you don’t know what you are doing.”

During his arraignment last week, Powers pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and three of attempted murder.

On Sunday, dressed in jail garb with his blond hair looking slightly disheveled, Powers appeared tired and said he was worried about his mother and his two children, ages 20 and 23.

Mary Powers this week pledged to do all she could to help her son. “I’m really proud of Brad,” she said. “He’s raised two fine children, taken care of the house. . . . I think he was in a state of shock from having his father die.”

She and her son are bitter about the hospital’s treatment of the elder Powers.

“By God, I will always feel toward the hospital what I feel now,” he said.

Powers Sr. had gone to the hospital emergency room April 13, complaining of shortness of breath. He was treated and released. Early the next morning, he returned to the hospital, complaining of abdominal pain. Doctors then discovered an abdominal aneurysm, a condition they said was not present the previous day. Telling the family that surgery was the elder Powers’ only chance for life, doctors operated. But Powers Sr. suffered a heart attack and died on the operating table at 8:40 a.m.

Charles Powers, Powers Sr.’s other son, told The Times last week that the family plans to file a malpractice suit against the hospital.

Jeff Simmons, spokesman for the hospital, said: “The care given to Mr. Powers was correct and appropriate.”

Powers Jr., who spoke calmly throughout his interviews with The Times, said he could not accept his father’s death.

“He was just the most wonderful man a son could have. We shared every day together for years and years and years,” Powers said.

Powers, who has held no long-term employment, said he spent his days taking care of the yard, swimming pool, and household, which includes a collection of five dogs and 12 cats. He also did the shopping and cooking, he said.

“I am a pretty responsible fellow; just because you are not working a particular job doesn’t mean you are not working. I work taking care of the household,” Powers said. “I did everything I was able to do. I kept that household running. My father was unable to do anything but sit in his office, and he got his retirement cut off short--real short.”

The family’s pets meant a lot to him, he said.

“I always loved animals. Animals never turn on you--no matter what happens, they are totally devoted, dedicated,” Powers said. “I treat people the way I always want to be treated. If you treat dogs that way, they are your lifelong friend. So that’s why they are the best friends a person can have.”

Besides his interest in animals, Powers said, he enjoys participating in sports such as golf, football and tennis. He had not played golf in recent months because his back has been bothering him, he said. As a member of the Mission Bay Yacht Club, he won more than 50 sailing trophies over a 12-year period that began when he was 10, he said. His love of the sea led to a brief stint with the Coast Guard.

Powers suffered mental problems dating back 25 years, according to court records. In 1965, his father filed a petition in San Diego Superior Court to begin the process of having the young man tested for mental illness, with the possibility of having him committed to the custody of county authorities.

Brad Powers Jr., then 21, was single and unemployed. A report by a doctor said Powers Jr. “is in an acute psychotic episode and appears to be on the verge of violence,” according to the father’s petition.

Two court-appointed doctors were scheduled to examine Powers Jr., but his father suddenly withdrew his petition, just five days after the request was filed. It is not known whether Powers had sought psychiatric care during the intervening years.

Powers declined to discuss his mental condition: “That will all come out in court.”

Powers said he spends much of his time now thinking about his father and feeling bad for the families of the victims.

“I feel very, very horrible about the people, the families--being that I went through the pain with my father what they are going through. We all know what the pain is like. It’s a horrible, horrible tragedy,” Powers said. “I can’t bring those people back, but I can’t bring my father back either.”