Soldier dies a negligent death - Kentuckian shot by officer in Iraq

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http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051011/NEWS0104/510110416/1008/NEWS01

WHITEHOUSE, Ky. -- When Wendell and Kathy Tackett learned their son had been shot and killed in Iraq on June 23, they assumed enemy fire had hit him.

But Sgt. Joseph Tackett was killed by a U.S. soldier -- one of 10 homicides since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003.

Even more rare, his death was at the hands of an officer, the military said.

The Pentagon hasn't released an official report on the death, but military officials said the 22-year-old was killed by a lieutenant who pointed his M-16 rifle at Tackett in a "safe haven," a place where loaded weapons are forbidden.