Andrew Engeldinger, the man who killed six people and himself after he opened fire in his former work place, showed signs of mental illness for years, according to an MPR interview with his parents.

In the interview, the Engeldingers said that as a child, their son loved animals and was just “a normal little kid who brought us a lot of joy.”

They said the person their son became “bore no resemblance to the son we knew and raised,” and that he was never violent, even in the years when it appeared his mental stability had digressed.

Chuck Engeldinger said that during his son’s senior year in high school, it seemed that Andrew had become depressed. He became distant from his friends and began getting poor grades despite being “such a high achiever.”

Andrew was officially diagnosed with depression and was put on medication. He stopped taking it after three or four weeks, claiming it didn’t work. Carolyn Engeldinger believed he was using alcohol and marijuana at the time.      

Carolyn Engeldinger said that during the last four months she and her husband were in contact with Andrew, his paranoia worsened and he began experiencing hallucinations.

She said that Andrew had a delusion of a conspiracy involving the government, the police, and people at work. In the interview, she said that Andrew’s delusions and hallucinations became the only thing he talked about.

“He’d come into the house and immediately go to the curtains and look out and see who might be following him.” she said.

The Engeldingers said that they couldn’t commit him to a mental institution because he was over 18 and because he had never proved to be a danger to others. 

The second part of the MPR interview with the Engeldingers will air tomorrow.