wednesday when johnson was already on the ground. she recognized him from an orientation session he d led this year. very outgoing and nice and bright and cheerful. reporter: virginia s governor ordered an investigation into whether excessive force was used, concerned over these images of johnson s head bloodied. for young african-americans who protested on the streets of charlottesville, this reopens the wounds of ferguson, madison, staten island. we re pissed. we re angry. we want answers. we want people to be punished for, you know, the mistreatment they had on martese. we need people to be held accountable. reporter: uva s black student alliance calls the treatment brutal and animalistic. johnson,p johnson, johnson, himself,brutal and animalistic. johnson,p johnson, johnson, himself addresses the
i feel like they failed him. reporter: the v.a. tells cnn that the emergency room staff, quote, followed proper mental health screening procedures and that miles had given medication he indicated helped him in the past. they refused to answer any more of our questions citing federal privacy laws. the friends and family of richard miles want the virginia to learn from their tragedy. they want the v.a. to figure out what they could have done differently with miles so the next veteran is admitted and helped. what do you not have now that this happened? a friend. my daughter doesn t have her father. people he touched so many people. he was so great. reporter: the iowa v.a. however, seems more focused on defending itself than on learning from any mistakes. i really do feel as though the v.a. failed him. ultimately, i feel like it s
he knew the date and where he was when he had shot and killed people. reporter: katie hopper is miles exgirlfriend and mother to their daughter em lin. she said he left iraq but it never left him. he was very very aware of what he was doing when defending people s lives, even if it was for the greater good. reporter: medical records obtained by cnn stated years after miles return from iraq in 2004 he quote, began to experience depression with suicidal attempts. he recalled seeing dead bodies and often had graphic violent dreams. friends and family saw miles struggle with his ptsd but say he was doing generally okay. until january when he disappeared. v.a. records show friends called the iowa v.a. to look for miles and told the v.a. they were filing a missing persons report with local law enforcement. miles finally responded days later to his friend harry oler who reached out by a text.
5 days later, the 40-year-old who served three tours in iraq was found dead in the woods having taken a toxic amount of sleeping pills, his body frozen in the elements. those who loved richard miles wanted to know whether the v.a. did enough for him that february night. that was his cry for help. and it was not taken seriously or received the way it should have been received. reporter: richard miles was one of the premiere presenters at the science center of iowa beloved and quite literally a picture perfect employee. he was passionate and knowledgeable about science himself and he went beyond that. his passion extended to sharing that knowledge with others. and as excited as he would get about viewing stars in his own, he was tenfold more excited when he could share that with others. reporter: what this popular iraq war veteran did not share with most is that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
february was their snowiest month on record. and to add to the misery it didn t get above freezing for 15 straight days that month. they aren t finished yet. more snow is in the forecast on the first day of spring. with all of the focus on the east winter has nearly forgotten about the west. california has had one of their warmest winters on record and one ski resort in the tahoe area had to resort earlier this month after only receiving 10% of its normal snowfall. but they re not alone. globally this was the warmest winter on record. jennifer gray joins me now. tomorrow is the official start of spring. i mean it sounds like a lot of people are still stuck in winter. reporter: yeah 6:45 p.m. eastern time. that s the official start of spring and a lot of people are going to experience rain, clouds and yes, even snow. we have this spring storm that is brewing. it is going to start as rain across the carolinas into virginia.