The family of Brian Clyde spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday about his attack on Dallas' Earle Cabell Federal Building, saying they believe his real intent was to be killed.

Clyde, 22, died in an exchange of gunfire Monday morning with federal officers. No one else was seriously injured.

"I think he wanted to die," said Clyde's mother, Nubia Brede Solis.

Her son had been in a mental institution for two weeks about five or six months before he was discharged from the Army in 2017, said Brede Solis, 59. He was placed in a civilian hospital in Louisiana during a training exercise at Fort Polk that simulated combat conditions.

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1 / 6Tamara Steel, left, hugs her stepfather Paul Clyde while Kristina Shannon, right, embraces her mother Nubia Brede Solis the family of Brian Clyde met with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, in Plano, Texas. Brian Clyde, 22, opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building and was shot by officers and died in a downtown Dallas parking lot. (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer) 2 / 6Nubia Brede Solis, mother of Brian Clyde, who two days prior opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building, spoke with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Clyde was shot by officers and died in the parking lot. (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer) 3 / 6Paul Clyde, father of Brian Clyde, 22, who two days prior opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building, speaks with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at the Plano, Texas home of Brian Clyde's father Paul. Brian Clyde was shot by officers and died in the parking lot.(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer) 4 / 6Paul Clyde, left, embraces his ex-wife Nubia Brede Solis during an interview with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, in Plano, Texas. Brian Clyde, 22, opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building and was shot by officers and died in a downtown Dallas parking lot. (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer) 5 / 6The Army uniform of Brian Clyde, 22, who opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building, is seen on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at the Plano, Texas home of Brian Clyde's father Paul. Brian Clyde was shot by officers and died in the parking lot. (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer) 6 / 6Paul Clyde, left, along with his ex-wife Nubia Brede Solis during an interview with The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, in Plano, Texas. Brian Clyde, 22, opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building and was shot by officers and died in a downtown Dallas parking lot. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News)(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

An Army spokesman said Wednesday that the military would not release information about a soldier's medical records.

Sitting in his Plano home, Paul Clyde, 47, shook his head and said he had no idea why his son shot up the federal building Monday.

“I ultimately think he didn't want to hurt anybody," he said, adding that he believes his son "went down there purely for suicide by cop. I don't have any other insights."

"That's just the gut feeling I have of my boy," Paul Clyde said.

The FBI says agents are still looking into Brian Clyde's motive.

But his stepmother, 42-year-old Heather Clyde, said she also believes he went to the federal building so authorities would kill him.

"That's our feeling. He knew there had been a shooting down there," she said, referring to the 2016 downtown Dallas ambush in which five officers were killed. "He knew it was a well-armed area."

Paul Clyde, who is in the Army Reserve, said he has undergone suicide-prevention training and had asked his son about his mental health two days before the shooting.

"We had discussions of suicide thoughts in the past," Paul Clyde said. His son always told him: "Dad, I will never do it. I will never hurt anybody. I'm good, I'm fine."

Brian Clyde is seen in two photos posted to his Facebook page, most recently in the one (right) posted May 8, 2019.

As for what pushed his son "over the edge," he said, "I wish I knew."

The last time Paul Clyde saw his son was at a family get-together the Saturday before Father's Day.

"He seemed fine. He helped cook. There was no change from any other time," he said.

In fact, life seemed to be going his son's way.

He had graduated a month earlier from Del Mar College, a two-year community college in Corpus Christi. He stayed for a week in Plano with his dad before moving to a new apartment in Fort Worth to take a new job with an aerospace company.

Heather Clyde said family members hadn't seen warning signs. They had been only beginning to reconnect with him because he'd been in college and, before that, the military.

"There was no indication," she said. "It's just like hearing [about] a stranger. Like when you watch the news. It's not even near the surface of who the Brian we knew was."

Clyde didn't join the family for Father's Day. He told his family he wasn't up for the drive from Fort Worth to Plano.

His last communication with his father was a text message that said. "Happy Father's Day, Daddy." And he added an emoji with its tongue sticking out because he said "Daddy" instead of "Dad," his family said.

Paul Clyde said he was thankful no one else was hurt.

"My son was a very good shot," he said. "He didn't have an intention to shoot anybody."

He said he believes his son knew his gunfire would be returned at the federal building.

"He knew the response that would come," he said.

'Quirky and funny'

Born Sept. 30, 1996, Brian Clyde was a middle child in a large blended family.

His mother, originally from Panama, and his father divorced when Brian was a toddler. He lived with his mother while he went to high school in Austin and college in Corpus Christi.

He had a "quirky and funny" personality, his dad said. He got along well with his mom.

"He couldn't stay away from me for too long," she said. "He was never disrespectful and never got in trouble in school."

'Obsessed with guns and ammo'

But a former high school classmate said this week that she recalled Clyde using racist and homophobic language and being obsessed with firearms.

McKenna Stout, 20, said she was in Leander ISD's ROTC program with Clyde, who graduated two years ahead of her.

She said Clyde, who shared photos of weapons on Facebook, had always been "obsessed with guns and ammo."

Stout, who is gay, said Clyde's words and actions in high school were "very obviously racist" and "very obviously homophobic."

Paul Clyde said that isn't the son he knew. He didn't see everything his son posted on Facebook, but he said any comments like that aren't appropriate. But he believed his son didn't really mean them.

Joining the Army

Brian Clyde enlisted in the Army right out of high school and served from August 2015 to February 2017 before he was honorably discharged.

His mother said she had urged her son to go to college instead. But many relatives had served in the military, including his father and grandfather.

His dad served on active duty in the Gulf War in 1991 and deployed to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan in the mid-2000s. In the Army Reserve, he's a first sergeant based in Grand Prairie.

Brian Clyde was interested in computers, and his father tried to steer him to an Army occupation in that field. However, he said his son was determined to be in the infantry.

But Brian told his parents he was having a rough time in the military. Paul Clyde said his son told him he was being harassed by supervisors and peers.

The father said he tried to contact supervisors in his son's unit. He did so not just as a dad but also as a senior non-commissioned officer — "just to ensure that ... a soldier is not being targeted and not being harassed because of him [being] seen as someone weak."

His son's unit might have wanted to toughen his son up, Paul Clyde reasoned.

"I think that might have been the ultimate goal," he said, "but unfortunately that's not how it was received."

Paul Clyde said he believes his son's hospitalization is the reason he left the Army.

After his discharge, Brian Clyde immediately felt better — "rejuvenated," his mother said.

"I asked him do you have depression, do you feel sad?" she asked. He told her, "No, mother. I'm not depressed anymore."

'Nothing in those eyes'

Paul Clyde shook his head and held back tears as he recalled the photo of his son in combat gear outside the federal building.

A gunman identified as 22-year-old Brian Isaack Clyde attacks at the Earle Cabell Federal Building on Monday morning. (Staff Photographer / Tom Fox)

"It's not him. There is nothing in those eyes," he said. "I know it's him. It's just like a blank stare. It's not my boy."

His mother said Brian Clyde looked "lost in space."

Paul Clyde was at work Monday when he got a text from his mother, then a call from his father and a text from a reporter asking him to comment. But he didn't know what it meant.

"Son, you need to find out what the hell is going on," Paul Clyde said his father told him.

He called his son's phone. No answer. Then he called Brian Clyde's mother, who was crying.

Members of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service gave first aid to the downed shooter, Brian Clyde, 22, after shots were fired Monday morning at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in Dallas. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

The shooting

At 8:37 a.m. Monday, Brian Clyde left his 2003 Nissan Altima at the southeast corner of Jackson and South Griffin streets and began firing at the south side of the federal building.

Seconds later, Clyde ran toward the Jackson Street entrance and shot at the glass doors.

1 / 5 2 / 5A security guard and a civilian run for cover as bullets ricochet off the building as a shooter (far background left) fires towards them on Monday morning, June 17, 2019 at the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in downtown Dallas. Law enforcement returned fire and the shooter was hit by gunfire. No officers or citizens were injured. FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew Desarno identified the shooter as Brian Isaack Clyde, 22. Clyde died at the scene and was taken to Baylor University Medical Center, officials said. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) (Tom Fox / Staff photographer) 3 / 5Shattered glass in the entry doors after shots were fired Monday morning, June 17, 2019 at the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in downtown Dallas. Law enforcement returned fire and the shooter was hit by gunfire. No officers or citizens were injured. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) -- MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY(Tom Fox / Staff photographer) 4 / 5Federal employees take cover behind a car in a parking lot as shots are fired Monday morning, June 17, 2019 at the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in downtown Dallas. Law enforcement returned fire and the shooter was hit by gunfire. No officers or citizens were injured. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) (Tom Fox / Staff photographer) 5 / 5Law enforcement hovers over the shooter in a parking lot after he fired shots Monday morning, June 17, 2019 at the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in downtown Dallas. Law enforcement returned fire and the shooter was hit by gunfire. No officers or citizens were injured. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) - MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY(Tom Fox / Staff photographer)

Law enforcement fired back at Clyde, who turned and ran back toward a parking lot on the south side of the federal building. Fatally wounded, he stumbled and collapsed next to a parked car.

Federal agents handcuffed Clyde and pulled on blue latex gloves before rolling him onto his back and removing his vest and shirt to check for bullet wounds.

Though Clyde was already dead, paramedics took him to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas just east of downtown.

One prosecutor caught outside as the shooting began suffered minor injuries while taking cover and is expected to fully recover.

Investigation continues

Since the shootout, more than 200 investigators have been assigned to the case.

They spent two days inspecting the crime scene around the courthouse, which reopened to the public Wednesday. They've asked nearby residents and workers to share footage of the attack.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has determined where Clyde got his rifle — identified by Dallas gun shop owners as a cheap version of an AR-15 — though the agency said the FBI prohibited it from releasing any details.

But authorities have not publicly given any possible reason why Clyde would put on combat gear and open fire on a well-guarded building less than a month after he graduated from community college.

Military service

Military records show that Clyde served in the Army for 18 months, far short of the typical four-year term of an Army contract. Assigned to Fort Campbell in Kentucky, he reached the rank of private first class. The FBI said he received an honorable discharge in 2017.

Brian Clyde is seen in two photos posted to his Facebook page, most recently in the one (right) posted May 8, 2019.

Less than a month after leaving the Army, Clyde applied to register as a commissioned security officer in Texas. He abandoned the process after attending some training, records indicate.

Clyde went on to attend Del Mar and graduated in May with an associate's degree in nondestructive testing technology, an applied science that deals with testing vehicles and structures for flaws.

Before he graduated, he lived with his mother in Corpus Christi while he attended college there.

His parents said that as far as they knew, he seldom drank alcohol and didn't use any prescription or illegal drugs. He took melatonin as a sleep aid, his mother said.

Paul Clyde said he'd struggled with depression and "had to be pulled back from the ledge." He suspects his son hid his own inner turmoil.

He urged veterans and others to seek help when needed, and he hoped relatives and friends don't hesitate to reach out to anyone in trouble.

Paul Clyde choked back tears as he described a photo of his son lying on the pavement as federal agents tried to save his life.

"I feel a little bit of solace in that they took time to administer first aid to try to bring our boy back to us," he said. "My heart goes out to them."

Mental health resources

In case of an emergency involving definite danger to oneself or others, call 911.

People contemplating suicide may call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

People facing an urgent emotional crisis in which there is no immediate danger may call ADAPT Community Solutions Mobile Crisis and Hotline at 1-866-260-8000.

People who need public mental health services or information may call the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority at 214-366-9407 or 877-653-6363 (toll-free).

Staff writers Dana Branham and Tom Steele contributed to this report.

Updated at 4:10 p.m. June 21, 2019: The mental health resources box at the end of the article includes up-to-date information for people who need public mental health services or information.