( CNN ) -- The mother of one of the American service members killed in a military stress clinic shooting in Baghdad said Wednesday she harbors `` mixed emotions '' toward the attacker who killed her son . Pfc . Michael E. Yates Jr. was one of five service members shot to death at a stress clinic in Baghdad , Iraq . `` I feel for him , but at the same time I am very angry at him , '' said Shawna Machlinski , mother of slain 19-year-old Pfc . Michael E. Yates Jr. Sgt . John M. Russell has been charged with five counts of murder in the killing . Yates of Federalsburg , Maryland , was one of the five service members slain Monday . `` I think he [ Russell ] needed help and could n't get it fast enough because you have to wait on everything with the Army , '' said Machlinski , referring to the alleged shooter and the problems the stress clinic addresses . She and Yates ' stepfather , Richard Van Blargan Jr. , spoke with reporters Wednesday in Maryland . `` As much as I have a lot of anger towards him , I also have some sympathy because I know he must have been going through a lot , as well , '' Machlinski said of Russell . While she said that `` does n't excuse '' the shooter 's actions , `` I believe that if he would 've gotten the help that he was there to get , maybe sooner , or got more help and other people recognized the signs , because there are signs , and you do n't have to be a rocket scientist to figure those signs out . '' `` We 're not sure as to what happened over there , '' Van Blargan said . Speaking about Yates , he said , `` We do know that he was at the stress clinic . Like quite a few other military people , they 've all dealt with the stress the best way they could . He was due to go back to his unit today , until this unfortunate event . '' Van Blargan said he did n't know much about the shooting suspect . `` He was probably under a lot of stress as well . Quite a bit more from my understanding , '' Van Blargan said of the shooting suspect . `` He has friends and family , extended families that will miss him dearly . '' Van Blargan said Yates told Machlinski in a phone call on Mother 's Day that Yates had met the suspected shooter , saying he was a `` very nice guy '' and `` could deal with him '' but that the man had `` some major issues . '' `` He was out there on the branch hoping for somebody to help him , '' Van Blargan said . Van Blargan said Yates -- who was a father himself -- is going to be missed . `` He was a good man , a good father . He took care of his responsibilities . He was very honorable . He was a good son . He treated everyone with respect and he just wanted respect back , '' Van Blargan said . Machlinski said her son told her in the Mother 's Day phone call that the clinic program he attended `` was kind of stupid because he had to color and do arts and crafts and cut and paste . '' But Machlinski said her son knew he had to complete the program so he could go back to his base . `` He was one of the lucky ones that understood that he needed help , '' Van Blargan said .
Mother of the soldier says she said suspect was under stress . Army soldier is accused of killing five fellow service ##men in Baghdad . Slain soldier was ` ` a good man , a good father , '' his stepdad says . Before shooting , soldier described suspect as ` ` nice guy '' with ` ` major issues ''