(DNAINFO) Lindsay Armstrong —

David Baril’s neighbors said his mental health had been deteriorating for years.

SPUYTEN DUYVIL — Former neighbors of the accused serial hammer attacker who was shot by police after striking a police officer described him as a “ticking time bomb” prone to mood swings when not taking his medication.

Those who knew David Baril, 30, were saddened to hear that he was shot Wednesday morning by police after attacking an NYPD officer with a hammer. However, they were not surprised.

Neighbors at the apartment building where Baril grew up and lived on-and-off with his mother until last year said that Baril’s mental health had been deteriorating for years.

“We knew he was a ticking time bomb,” said Donald Feldman, who has lived in the apartment below Baril and his mother since they moved into the building in the late 1980s.

Source: Hammer Attacker Was a ‘Ticking Time Bomb,’ Neighbors Say – Midtown – DNAinfo.com New York