....Die by the crazy veteran. Iraq veteran charged in killing of former Navy Seal, 'American Sniper' author STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- A 25-year-old Iraq war veteran charged with murdering former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend turned his semi-automatic handgun onto the pair while they were at a Texas shooting range, authorities said Sunday. Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned early Sunday on two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Capt. Jason Upshaw with the Erath County Sheriff's Office said Routh used a semi-automatic handgun, which authorities later found at his home. Upshaw declined to give any more details about the type of gun used. This photo provided by the Erath County Sheriffâs Office shows Eddie Ray Routh. He was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday (Feb. 3).AP Photo/ Erath County Sheriff's Office Routh has not made any comments indicating what his motive may have been, Upshaw said. Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Routh was unemployed and "may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself," but he didn't know if Routh was on any medication. "I don't know that we'll ever know. He's the only one that knows that," Upshaw said. The U.S. military confirmed Sunday that Routh was a corporal in the Marines from June 2006 to January 2010. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Haiti in 2010. His current duty status is listed as reserve. Routh is being held on $3 million bond. Authorities did not know whether Routh had a lawyeryet. Bryant said the trio went to the shooting range around 3:15 p.m. Saturday. Someone else came across the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield around 5 p.m. and called 911. Upshaw said autopsies were still pending and he could not say how many times the men were shot or where on their bodies they were hit. After the shootings, Routh left the shooting range in Kyle's black pickup truck, Bryant said, first going to his sister's home in Midlothian, where he told her and her husband what he had done. The couple called local police. Routh arrived at his home in Lancaster, about 17 miles southeast of Dallas, at about 8 p.m. Police arrested him after a brief pursuit and took him to the Lancaster Police Department. Travis Cox, the director of a nonprofit Kyle helped found, told the Associated Press on Sunday that Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the range. Littlefield was Kyle's neighbor and "workout buddy," Cox said. "What I know is Chris and a gentleman -- great guy, I knew him well, Chad Littlefield -- took a veteran out shooting who was struggling with PTSD to try to assist him, try to help him, try to, you know, give him a helping hand and he turned the gun on both of them, killing them," Cox said. A knock on the door at Routh's last known address went unanswered Sunday. A for-sale sign was in front of the small, wood-framed home. Kyle, a decorated veteran, wrote the best-selling book, "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009. Kyle said in his book that Iraqi insurgents had put a bounty on his head. According to promotional information from book publisher William Morrow, Kyle deployed to Iraq four times. Kyle's nonprofit, FITCO Cares, provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans. "Chris was literally the type of guy if you were a veteran and needed help he'd help you," Cox said. "And from my understanding that's what happened here. I don't know how he came in contact with this gentleman, but I do know that it was not through the foundation." Cox described Littlefield as a gentle, kind-hearted man who often called or emailed him with ideas for events or fundraisers to help veterans. "It was just two great guys with Chad and Chris trying to help out a veteran in need and making time out of their day to help him. And to give him a hand. And unfortunately this thing happened," Cox said. Lt. Cmdr. Rorke Denver, who served with Kyle on SEAL Team 3 in Iraq in 2006, called Kyle a champion of the modern battlefield. "Everybody was aware in 2006 that something special or something unique with his skill set was developing and starting to grow and then it just carried on until he hung up his guns, at least in an active military capacity, and moved on," Denver said. His book, "Damn Few," about training SEALs, will be released this month. Denver wasn't surprised that Kyle apparently used a shooting range to help someone with PTSD. "For us, for warriors, that's a skill set that has become very familiar, very comfortable for us," said Denver, a lieutenant commander in a reserve SEAL team. "So I actually see it as kind of a perfect use of Chris' unique skill set and expertise of which he has very few peers." Craft International, Kyle's security training company, had scheduled a $2,950-per-person civilian training event at Rough Creek Lodge called the "Rough Creek Shoot Out!" for March 1-3. The price included lodging, meals and shooting instruction. Kyle was scheduled to teach the first class, called "precision rifle." Kyle is survived by his wife, Taya, and their two children, Cox said.
I heard an interview he did at the shot show. He said one of his pet peeves was guys not taking their caps off during the national anthem. Was an insult to all those that have died defending this country. And when asked about his kills he said" I just think of it as saving Americans lives"
He is a good dude, I am happy for him to snipe fools left right and center. I just think he seems weirdly self serving. I would like him better if I had never heard of him.
I run races all the time and sometimes before the race during the national anthem people yell at each other to take off thei hats, which are always worn for warmth. I want to strangle the pricks who ask others to take off their hats. How many people have died for our rights to wear whatever we want on our heads
One of my brethren was a sniper in the Army. Funny, funny guy. Always cracking jokes, one of those guys who would ask the ladies questions you'd want to ask but knew you'd get slapped for. And somehow he got away with it. I knew him for about a year before I found out he had been a sniper. When I asked him about it, his face went blank and all he said was, "Yeah. I don't want to talk about it." It was very strange.
I bet it makes you ask yourself about the meaning of life a lot more than not...that is unless you have no conscience. When I was managing fish farms in Barataria Bay, I lived in Golden Meadow and knew "Doc" Fischer. He was a physician and he grew up with my dad in New Orleans. His house was robbed at night while he and his wife were asleep. The robber entered their bedroom after quietly ransacking their house and demanded money and jewelry from them. When Mrs. Fischer leaned over to get her watch off of the bedside table, the robber shot at where her head was. She came up with the .38 she had beside her bed and shot the dude in the chest and killed him. The shooting was totally justified and the Lafourche parish sheriff wrote an op ed piece in the paper explaining that this was a classical case for a justified shooting so that the citizens could learn what a justified shooting was. Mrs Fischer never went out after that and she aged like crazy and was never the same. She died a year or two later. Killing someone took that much out of her.
You know, I've never killed a person, never shot at a person, hell, never fired a shot in anger. But I've played what some would call violent video games (anyone remember Doom? I was really into the second one for a while. Oh, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.) and am generally a fan of late 70s and early 80s slasher movies. I had reached a point where I thought that -- if I was ever in a situation where I had to participate in a justified killing -- killing another human being wouldn't have a long term psychological impact. Then, with my job, I got very interested in the psychology of killing and now I'm not nearly as sure. I've had many conversations with people who have killed others. I've gotten to know some of them fairly well. I've done some research. (The best book on the subject I've found is "On Killing" by Dave Grossman.) Yeah, it takes a psychological toll. No matter how desensitized you think you are to it.
