Family of Spokane shooting victim describes 'frustrating' wait for details

Family members of Michael Grant Cahill, a Spokane native killed at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, waited for hours after the shooting rampage with no word of his whereabouts.

They called hospitals and other facilities where victims were taken and got nothing.

That night, about 11, a sergeant in a patrol car pulled up to the family's home in Cameron, Texas, and told them that Cahill, 62, was one of the 13 people killed in an attack committed by a lone gunman.

Among 38 others who were wounded was an 18-year-old Post Falls, Idaho, soldier, George Stratton III.

Cahill, who was described as a devoted family man, worked as a civilian physician assistant in the clinic where the shootings occurred.

"We went all day hearing nothing," said Cahill's daughter, Keely Cahill Vanacker. "It was very frustrating."

Becky Cahill, a sister, said she called her brother's cellphone but got no answer, and then she called a hospital near the base, with no luck.

Vanacker, of Kerrville, Texas, said Friday that the military had provided almost no information about how her father died. His body was being transported to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for an autopsy, Vanacker said.

"My dad was a wonderful person," she said in a telephone interview. "He loved his job. He loved working with people and helping them with their physical needs."

Michael Cahill had worked as a civilian contractor at Fort Hood for about four years, after jobs in rural health clinics and at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He and his wife, Joleen, had been married 37 years.

Becky Cahill, of Lincoln City, Ore., said she and her brother talked on the phone several times a week. His death has left her feeling cheated, she said.

She said she is trying not to focus anger on the Army major suspected in the shooting because that would bring her down to his level. "This mindset has got to change," she said.

Michael Cahill had suffered a heart attack several weeks ago and had a stent implanted in an artery, returning to work a few days later, she said.

Cahill was born in Spokane and attended Rogers High School, where he ran on the track team and graduated in the mid-1960s.

His father was a truck driver and his mother worked in retail. The family moved across Spokane during Cahill's high-school years, so he walked to Rogers for two years to finish there, Becky Cahill said.

He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Eastern Washington University in 1973.

During college, he met his future wife, Joleen Murphy Cahill, at Gonzaga University, where she took classes. She is originally from Montana.

Cahill joined the Army National Guard, where he was trained as a physician assistant, and then he worked for the Veterans Affairs in Portland and at small rural clinics during his career, Vanacker said. He retired from the National Guard as a chief warrant officer.

Vanacker said that while she was growing up, the family lived in three states, including in communities as small as 200 people.

Vanacker said her father was committed to bringing health care to people who needed it and believed his career as a physician assistant offered him the opportunity to provide care at a lower cost.

The family traveled often, taking trips to the mountains of Montana or the Oregon coast. They frequently visited Spokane during summers when she was younger, she said.

Her father was a canoeist.

He also enjoyed talking about current events and politics and could keep going until midnight, she said.

"He loved his family very, very much," Vanacker said, and he spent most of his spare time at home. "I always picture him coming home."

Cahill had planned to be at the Vanacker house next month for a family Christmas gathering.

The Cahill farm was on Moran Prairie, Becky Cahill said. Cahill Road near Spangle, Spokane County, is named after the family.

Michael Cahill is survived by his wife; Vanacker; another daughter, Kerry Cahill, of Chicago; a son, James Cahill, of Levelland, Texas; two sisters, Becky Cahill and Marilyn Attebery, of Spokane Valley; and one grandson. Arrangements for services are pending.