However, Larry Wagoner, a lifelong friend of Thacker’s, told the World he doesn’t believe the posts are indicative of any long-standing issue Thacker had with the homeless or needy.

“This is a guy that would give his shirt off his back to a homeless person. If they asked for a dollar, he would give away his last dollar or his last cigarette,” Wagoner said.

He called the attacks and his friend’s subsequent arrest “completely shocking.”

“I know he’s been having some hard times here lately, but never anything like this,” Wagoner said. “He’s been down on himself here lately. He gets to a place in his head where life is great and then a week later, he hates his life. It hasn’t always been like this.”

Wagoner said the two met as children and Thacker worked for Wagoner’s plumbing company for two or three months about seven or eight months previously before going to work for another plumbing company owned by Wagoner’s father.

When asked for more details about the “hard times” he said Thacker experienced, Wagoner said his father told him Thacker had been prescribed medicine but was unsure what it was.