U.S. soldier referred for court martial for 2009 Iraq shooting

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

SEATTLE | Fri May 18, 2012 2:43pm EDT

(Reuters) - A U.S. soldier accused of shooting dead five fellow servicemen at a military clinic in Baghdad in 2009 has been referred to stand trial by military court martial, Joint Base Lewis-McChord said on Friday.

Sergeant John Russell, who could face the death penalty if convicted, faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of aggravated assault, and one charge of attempted murder.

Russell, of the 54th Engineer Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, is accused of going on a shooting spree at a combat stress center at Camp Liberty, near the Baghdad airport, in May 2009.

Two of the five people killed in the shooting were medical staff officers at the counseling center for soldiers experiencing combat stress. The other three were Army enlisted soldiers in the center at the time of the shooting.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-iraq-courtmartial-idUSBRE84H0XD20120518

[99th_Monkey]

1. I'm guessing that, unlike when victims are brown-skinned "collateral damage"

that in THIS case, justice meted out evenhandedly.