Newsgroup: it.cultura.militare
Titolo: US Soldier says he randomly shot at Iraqis

Soldier says he randomly shot at Iraqis
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 10, 2008 6:10:49 EST
 
FORT CARSON, Colo. — The Army is investigating possible war crimes after a
Fort Carson soldier facing first-degree murder charges in the slayings of
two Iraq war veterans told investigators he and another soldier randomly
fired at Iraqi civilians.
Pfc. Bruce Bastien Jr. and two former soldiers face charges in the
December shooting death of Spc. Kevin Shields, while Bastien and one of
those former soldiers face charges in the Aug. 4 shooting death of Pfc.
Robert James.
Fort Carson spokeswoman Dee McNutt confirmed the Army investigation
detailed in a motion filed by prosecutors Tuesday seeking to combine the
two slayings into one case.
Bastien said he and another soldier used stolen AK47 military rifles to
shoot at civilians while their unit patrolled Baghdad neighborhoods while
they were in Iraq.
“The sound of an AK47 is very distinctive,” the motion quotes Bastien as
telling Fort Carson Special Agent Kelly Jameson on Dec. 10. “So if there
were any questions when the shooting was heard, Bastien said they could
claim they were taking on hostile fire.”
Bastien spoke with Jameson, an Army criminal investigator, after his
arrest in Shields’ slaying. Attempts to reach Jameson were referred to
McNutt, who released a statement saying the allegations were being taken
very seriously and would be thoroughly investigated.
Messages left for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command were not
immediately returned.
Charged in the death of Shields are Bastien, 21, and former soldiers Louis
Edward Bressler, 24, of Charlotte, N.C., and Kenneth Eastridge, 24, of
Louisville, Ky. Shields was found dead, with multiple gunshot wounds,
early Dec. 1 on a sidewalk near Old Colorado City north of the post.
Bressler and Bastien also face first-degree murder charges in the Aug. 4
death of James, whose bullet-riddled body was found in a car in a bank
parking lot near the base.
All three were being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center
without bond. They are due back in court Jan. 25.
Shields, Bressler, Eastridge and Bastien served together in Iraq with the
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The soldiers were in the
same platoon of C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment.
All four came home this spring and summer, months earlier than other
soldiers in the unit.
James served with Fort Carson’s 43rd Area Support Group and served in
Iraq. It was unclear how he knew the suspects, though investigators
believe he was killed as part of a robbery. Investigators believe Shields
was killed after a fight with one of the men as he celebrated his 24th
birthday.
In court documents, Bastien is quoted as saying that he drove while
Eastridge would shoot at Iraqi civilians who happened to be along the
street.
“Bastien said that he knows that an Iraqi civilian was struck on at least
one occasion,” according to the motion.
Calls to the Colorado Springs public defender’s office, which is
representing Eastridge and Bastien, went unanswered. An e-mail request for
comment was not immediately returned.
Tira Bressler told The Gazette of Colorado Springs that her husband was
being “set up” and that he was “wrongfully accused.”
“I talked to my husband. He said ‘Why would I harm a good friend from
Iraq?”’ Tira Bressler told The Gazette.
Both Bressler and Eastridge were trained as infantry riflemen. Eastridge
was wounded in combat and had received the Purple Heart and Army
Achievement medals, Army records show.
Bastien served as a medic, earning the combat medical badge for rendering
aid under enemy fire.
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