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Vendaval -> RE: Another Mass Shooting In The News (5/12/2009 6:57:15 PM)
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The shooter's superior officers had previously confiscated his weapon but he took one from another soldier.
"Base Slayings Spur Probe of Mental Health Care"
By Ernesto LondoñoWashington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
"BAGHDAD, May 12 -- The U.S. military said Tuesday that it is launching a probe to identify shortcomings in mental health treatment for troops deployed in war zones, after a soldier allegedly killed five fellow service members at a base clinic in Baghdad on Monday.
Military officials on Tuesday identified the gunman as Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, of Sherman, Tex. Russell, a communications specialist with the 54th Engineer Battalion, based in Bamberg, Germany, has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
A few days before the shooting at Camp Liberty, a military installation near Baghdad airport, Russell's commanders grew concerned about his state of mind and confiscated his weapon as a precautionary measure, according to Maj. Gen. David Perkins, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq.
"He had been referred to counseling the week before," Perkins said Tuesday. "His commander had determined it'd be best for him not to have a weapon."
Another U.S. military official in Baghdad said Russell had gotten into an argument with someone at Camp Liberty's combat stress clinic earlier in the day. Later, Russell grabbed another service member's weapon, returned to the clinic and opened fire, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/AR2009051201127.html
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