Camp Liberty killings
Encyclopedia
The Camp Liberty killings occurred on May 11, 2009, at military counseling clinic at Camp Liberty
Camp Liberty
Camp Liberty is a large coalition military installation located northeast of the Baghdad International Airport and is part of the U.S. military's Victory Base Complex . It was formerly known as Camp Victory North and renamed in mid-September 2004, as part of an effort to give U.S...

, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, of the 54th Engineer Battalion based at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany
Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany
Warner Barracks are a military base of the United States Army in the city of Bamberg, southern Germany. The base has been occupied by American forces since the end of World War II. Elements of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and 45th Infantry Division entered the town on 13 and 14 April 1945...

, was taken into custody and charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault against soldiers—including those from the 55th Medical Company, according to Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 David Perkins (a spokesman for the U.S. Army forces).

Killings

Russell had been in a fight at the clinic. Officials have said that he was being escorted from the clinic when he allegedly stole a weapon from a fellow soldier, drove back to the clinic, and opened fire. He has been charged with five counts of murder, and one count of aggravated assault.

It was at the time the worst killing in the Iraq War against U.S. forces perpetrated by a fellow American.

White House statement

President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

, in a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 statement, said he would speak to Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....

 about the matter, and that he was profoundly saddened by the news and determined to understand why it may have happened in order to do everything possible to make sure it never happened again.

Report

A report was issued in October 2009. Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...

summarized the report: "Despite years of emphasis on mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

 issues, commanders in Iraq lack the necessary tools, training and guidance to deal with at-risk soldiers, according to an Army investigation into mental health services."

Soldiers killed

  • Commander Charles K. Springle, 55th Medical Company
  • Major Matthew P. Houseal, 55th Medical Company
  • Sergeant Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade
  • Specialist Jacob D. Barton, 277th Engineer Company, 420th Engineer Brigade
  • Private First Class Michael E. Yates Jr. 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade

See also

  • 2003 Camp Pennsylvania attack
    Hasan Akbar case
    The Hasan Akbar case refers to an event in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, when Hasan Karim Akbar was convicted of the double-murder of two officers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.The victims were Army...

  • 2005 Deaths of Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen
    Deaths of Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen
    The deaths of Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen were caused on June 7, 2005, at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq. Captain Phillip Esposito and First Lieutenant Louis Allen, from a New York Army National Guard unit of the United States 42nd Infantry Division, were killed by a Claymore...

  • 2007 Fort Dix attack plot
    2007 Fort Dix attack plot
    The 2007 Fort Dix attack plot involved a group of six radical Islamist men who conspired to stage an attack against U.S. Military personnel stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The alleged aim of the group was to "kill as many soldiers as possible"....

  • 2009 Fort Hood shooting
    Fort Hood shooting
    The Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others...

  • 2009 Lloyd R. Woodson
    Lloyd R. Woodson
    Lloyd R. Woodson is an American whose arrest in central New Jersey on January 25, 2010 received national attention in the United States. Woodson was armed with a semi-automatic assault rifle and was wearing a military-grade ballistic vest at the time of his arrest...

     case—Arrested with military-grade illegal weapons he intended to use in a violent crime, and a detailed map of the Fort Drum
    Fort Drum
    Fort Drum is a United States Army base in New York near the Canadian border.Fort Drum may also refer to:*Fort Drum, Florida, a nearly-uninhabited town in the United States*Fort Drum , Philippines...

    military installation

External links

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