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Army IDs soldiers shot at Camp Liberty

The Defense Department has identified the four soldiers killed Monday when a fellow soldier fired into a combat stress clinic on Camp Liberty, Iraq.

They are Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.; and Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.

Houseal was assigned to the 55th Medical Company of Indianapolis, Ind.

Bueno-Galdos and Yates were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of Grafenwoehr, Germany. Barton belonged to the 277th Engineer Company, 420th Engineer Brigade of Waco, Texas. Bueno-Galdos was posthumously promoted Wednesday to staff sergeant.

The fifth service member killed Monday was identified Tuesday. He was Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C. He also was assigned to the 55th Medical Company.

As part of the medical company, Springle and Houseal both worked at the Liberty Combat Stress Control Center.

A sergeant from the Bamberg, Germany-based 370th Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, has been charged in the shootings.

Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, first joined the Army National Guard in 1988; he went into the active Army in 1994. He is charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

Russell, who was on his third Iraq deployment, remains in custody in Iraq.

Special agents from Army Criminal Investigation Command continue to investigate the shootings.

The Army also has initiated an AR 15-6 investigation to determine if there are adequate mental health facilities in Iraq, said Lt. Col. David Patterson, a spokesman for Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

The suspect was referred to counseling the week before the shootings and his commander determined that it was best for him not to have a weapon, said Maj. Gen. David Perkins, a spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq.

According to an Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity, preliminary reports show the suspected shooter was unarmed when he was escorted to the combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty, a sprawling U.S. base near Baghdad’s international airport. Once inside, he got into a verbal altercation with the staff and was asked to leave. The soldier and his escort got back into their vehicle and began to drive away, according to the Army official.

At some point during the drive, the soldier got control of his escort’s weapon and ordered the escort out of the vehicle, the Army official said. The soldier then drove back to the clinic, walked in and began shooting, the official said.

Soldiers from the 55th Medical Company provided immediate counseling for those who witnessed the shooting and were at the center at the time of the incident, Perkins said.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” MNC-I spokesman Col. John Robinson said. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy.”

According to Army records, Russell, of Sherman, Texas, first deployed to Iraq in April 2003. He returned for a second tour in May 2005. Before that, he deployed for six months in 1996 to Serbia and for seven months in 1998 to Bosnia.

During a press briefing Monday afternoon at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed his “horror and deep regret” over the shooting, adding that officials are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened.

“Such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause of great and urgent concern,” he said.

When asked if the suspected gunman had been deployed multiple times, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday he did not have that information. However, he said, the tragedy occurred while service members were seeking help at the clinic.

“It does speak to me for the need for us to redouble our efforts in terms of dealing with the stress [of combat],” Mullen said. “It also speaks to the issues of multiple deployments [and] increasing dwell time.”

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul, in northern Iraq.

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