Posted on 05/12/2009 7:00:22 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. soldier who fired on fellow troops in Iraq has been identified as Army Sgt. John Russell, and he's been charged with five counts of murder, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
Russell killed five people when he fired on other troops at a stress clinic at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad International Airport, U.S. officials said.
Along with five counts of murder, Russell also was charged with one count of aggravated assault, said Maj. Gen. David Perkins, who briefed reporters in Baghdad.
Russell is on his third tour in Iraq. He's with the 54th Engineering Battalion, based in Germany. He is in military police custody at Camp Victory.
There are no immediate insights on a motive, Perkins said.
The military is conducting a criminal investigation and another probe that explores whether the shootings could have been prevented, Perkins said.
Among the five killed, two were on the staff of the clinic -- one from the Army and the other from the Navy. Both were with the 55th Medical Company. The other three were enlisted soldiers. None of the victims have been identified.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I know too.Having once been assigned to an Army hospital unit one of my jobs was to relieve patients and visitors of their weapons until they were leaving.
If you were his family would you like to find out about it first on CNN?
How sad for all.
What the heck is a stress clinic?
Thank you for the ping, boxerblues..
My heart is breaking. Pray for these families - including HIS.
He apparently seized an escort’s weapon when he was being escorted back to his base and returned with it to the clinic.
It sounds as if there might be a history there...he was obviously already in some kind of difficulty, or he wouldn’t have been brought to the clinic by an “escort.”
I want to see a picture
I’m just sayin’, if you have a clinic with stressed out
people, maybe it would be a good idea to hold their guns at the door.
Ohhh, those are interesting additional pieces.
They will.
Can you understand that being in a hot,God forsaken,*DANGEROUS* desert country....8,000 miles from home...for 10 or 15 months (or more) might get under your skin a bit? Or a lot? A "stress clinic" is just a fancy,non-embarrasing name for a psychiatric clinic.
“He could be support.”
I certainly hope so.
Excuse me a moment while I RANT ;)
ALL those on this thread who JUMP to conclusions before even READING the damn article could have waited to READ before posting.
Every day I read threads on our wonderful FR with comments so ignorant and agenda driven it makes me sick. I don’t mean one-liner jokes or funny lines...I mean assumptions based on pet points of view- whether based on reality or not- makes no difference.
We- and I include myself- ALL would be better served by learning to think before spouting off in ignorance. Mental discipline and actual thought aren’t nearly as much fun as knee-jerk rections, I’ll grant you that.
Looks like DU around here sometimes. And I don’t mean the point of view- I mean the thought-less comments.
end rant
One can only assume that they did,Or tried to at least.And If the info in post #46 is correct then that's your explanation.
Care to cite some examples?
Why do I have guns around home here?
Protection.
I believe he had been disarmed earlier in the day, but somehow got a hold of another weapon.
I agree with you completely, SE Mom.
Jumping to conclusions or trying to make a news story (especially when it concerns a tragedy) fit into a template or conform to a poster’s set of prejudices really makes us look foolish.
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