George G. Nickel Jr. can't explain to police why he armed himself with two weapons and fired shots into apartment doors to look for a lost dog Tuesday - just that he was so irritated that his anger was a nine on a scale of 10 that night, court testimony revealed Thursday.

Nickel surrendered to police without returning a shot as four officers fired some 12 rounds in a confrontation in the stairwell of Nickel's apartment building off Vista Avenue.

Nickel's former commanding officer and one of his fellow soldiers say his behavior must have something to do with the physical or mental injuries he sustained in February 2007, when he suffered a broken leg and shrapnel in his face in a roadside bomb explosion that killed three Idaho soldiers.

Nickel was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for bravery, said U.S. Army Capt. Eric R. Coulson, who was Nickel's commanding officer in Iraq

"I sat with Sgt. Nickels for hours in Fallujah (following the attack) ... he was the only one to come out alive," Coulson said. "You can't imagine how traumatic that is."

"Something must have happened," Coulson said. "I certainly know he needs help. He is a good person and a good soldier."

Nickel was one of 100 Idaho Army Reservists with the 321st Engineer Battalion who spent a year in Iraq hunting and disarming the roadside bombs that had been so deadly for American troops.

He worked as an officer for the Idaho Department of Correction before and after his time in Iraq, but is on administrative leave now.

"There are a lot of us who are dealing with that stuff ... I think he just snapped, just went over the edge," said Ian Freeman, who served in the same Army company with Nickel and spent time with him at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as they both recovered from combat injuries. "He is a great guy and a gentle person - I don't really know what happened."

Ada County prosecutors say Nickel was carrying a handgun and his AR-15 rifle and was wearing a tactical vest with as many as 90 rounds of ammunition when police found him. Police say Nickel shot into two apartments before they arrived.

Freeman, who is still rehabilitating from brain injuries he sustained in Iraq, said he did not discuss medical diagnoses with Nickel when they talked a few times a month.

He said he was not excusing whatever Nickel did, but he hoped his friend would be treated fairly by the justice system.

"I just feel sad all this happened - for the people in that building, and the officers who were involved, and for George," Freeman said.

Patrick Orr: 373-6619