Family Member: Incident at Walmart Prompted by String of Tragedies

“We’re not trying to make excuses for him or what he did,” a close family member of Charles D. Welborn, the suspect involved in the incident at San Angelo’s north side Walmart, said in an interview Wednesday morning. “We just want people to know what happened.”

Questions and rumors surrounding Welborn’s mental state, motive and criminal history have spread throughout the internet and social media since he walked into Walmart on March 24, claiming to have a bomb and stealing a rifle from the smashed gun case. When Welborn was met with police outside the superstore, he failed to comply with orders and was shot three times, sustaining injuries that led to his death in hospital on Tuesday night.

Calling from Louisiana, a close relative says that it was the comments on the LIVE!  Facebook and website that caused the family to reach out to the community, citing several concerned posts from San Angelo citizens on the rise of crime.

“We apologize on behalf of the family for the fear and ordeal, and we don’t condone it, we don’t condone it,” she said. “We don’t want people thinking they have to look over their shoulders in fear because of what he did.”

Charles “Danny” Welborn was the youngest of seven children and grew up in Shreveport, La. Within the past three years, multiple family-related tragedies have taken their toll on Welborn, resulting in alcoholism and deep depression, the family member said.

Three years ago, Welborn won custody of his 14-year-old daughter after divorcing his wife, when tragedy struck. Shortly thereafter, “he found her body,” the relative said. “she committed suicide. We lost a piece of him that day.”

Following the death of his daughter, Welborn suffered from depression and began drinking, she said. In 2012, he had met a woman and was engaged, and the two had a child together, a baby girl. The family thought that the birth of his daughter might turn things around for him, however soon after the baby was born, she died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The woman, Welborn’s fiancée, followed thereafter, terminally ill from cancer.

According to his relative, Welborn’s fiancée was from Galveston, and after her death, he returned to Texas to collect her belongings. He was supposed to return to Louisiana sometime thereafter and take on a plumbing job, but he never returned.

After that, the family remained only in intermittent contact with Welborn, who called occasionally and was known to be in Texas, however his city of residence was unknown. Due to his problems with alcohol, the family had chosen to stop financial support, in an attempt to save his life from his growing addiction.

Welborn was arrested in Galveston County on Jan. 9 of this year for driving while intoxicated. His relative says that as far the family knows, he had not been taking any medication. In the past, she says, he had made threats to commit suicide and had even attempted it once, but was unsuccessful.

As for the events that unfolded on Monday, she said, “He wanted that (the shooting) to happen. He was completely tormented and it (the deaths in his family) sent him over the edge.”

Welborn is survived by six siblings and a son, who is between 6 and 7-years-old. Speaking on behalf of her family, she continued, “He has one living child who is very young, and in a time of mass shootings and all, I don’t want him growing up thinking that’s what this was. He never intended to harm anyone.”

According to San Angelo Police Department Public Information Officer Tracy Gonzalez, several members of Welborn’s family have been reaching out to the department to provide information on the deceased. The family expressed gratitude to San Angelo Police for the peace they gave Welborn that he couldn’t give himself.

She further stated that the family apologizes for the fear Welborn’s actions has caused in the community, and for the measures that needed to be taken by police.

Welborn died at approximately 11:30 p.m. at Shannon Medical Center on Tuesday, March 25. He had undergone multiple surgeries for the three gunshot wounds sustained in the incident.