Shortly after 4 a.m. last Saturday, 25-year-old Jason Prostrollo, a former Marine who served in Iraq, was shot and killed by a Scottsdale police officer after police say he kidnapped a cabdriver at knifepoint, threatened a couple and advanced on officers while drunken and belligerent, waving a pool cue in each hand.

A day or so after the incident, Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, infuriated Scottsdale police when she took to her Twitter account to call Prostrollo a "veteran and a patriot." (The tweet later was removed.)

Jim Nolan, president of the Scottsdale Fraternal Order of Police, sent a letter to Cindy McCain by way of her husband's office that reads in part, "In spite of the terror experienced by the three victims and the danger that Mr. Prostrollo placed upon our civil servants, for some reason you, Mrs. McCain, chose to take to a social media outlet and express your concern for the suspect. You did not express any sadness for the kidnapping victim, for the residents who were terrified in their own home or for the brave officers who ran towards danger while a city slept."

Nolan is correct. But then again, so is Cindy McCain. Prostrollo was a veteran, a patriot and a threat.

Most news coverage of this incident didn't focus on the people involved, but on the Scottsdale police dog, Raider, that was shot and wounded by another Scottsdale officer during the incident. (The dog will recover.)

Stories of returning veterans who turn violent have become pass�.

Prostrollo met a Scottsdale man and woman at a bar. The three went to the couple's place to play pool. Things got ugly. There was a confrontation. Police were called. Prostrollo left in a cab. He then is said to have put a knife to the driver's neck and forced him to return to the house.

When police got there, the two residents came out unharmed. Prostrollo followed, wielding pool cues. Officers sent Raider. He attacked and bit Prostrollo but didn't stop him from advancing. Shots were fired. The dog was wounded. Prostrollo died.

He had served two tours in Iraq as a Marine. His father, Warren, later said that his son had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When many of our veterans get out of armed forces, the challenges are difficult," Prostrollo's dad said.

Stories like this have become all too familiar. Some of our soldiers return from war as emotional IEDs, ready to explode and take innocent victims with them. Suicides. Spousal abuse. Paranoia.

A few years back, I got a note from a vet who came close to taking his own life.

He wrote in part, "(Soldiers) walk along in a world they thought they knew, a world that for them has changed almost beyond recognition."

That could be what happened to Marine Staff Sgt. Travis Twiggs, who killed himself and his brother, Willard, after a long police chase by driving -- Thelma and Louise-style -- off the edge of the Grand Canyon.

I've spoken about the problems faced by returning veterans with David Klein, suicide-prevention coordinator at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center.

"What I try to do is educate people throughout the hospital to listen. Really listen," he told me. "I emphasize empathy and concern. Not making veterans feel as if we don't have the time for them. That is what I do in training they will shut down on you."

Another Marine veteran, 22-year-old Michael Murray of Scottsdale, died after crashing his motorcycle into a pole. He had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

His mother said, "A lot of these kids come back from the war and they have such burdens in their hearts, like Michael did, that they can't quite readjust."

Veterans (or their friends or family members) looking for help can call the local VA at 602-222-6550 or toll-free statewide at 888-214-7264.

Jason Prostrollo was a threat. We're lucky that no innocent people or law-enforcement officers (besides Raider) were hurt. But Cindy McCain was right. He also was a veteran and a patriot.

Reach Montini at 602-444-8978 or ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.