Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510300078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FORT BRAGG, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Soldiers in sweatpants and shirts scattered for cover when the shooting started in the 6:30 a.m. darkness. All but one of the 19 victims were from the elite 82nd Airborne Division, as was the soldier who was arrested. Another soldier was injured when he fell while running for cover.
A Special Forces trooper exercising nearby heard the shots and tackled the gunman while another soldier jumped on his back and grabbed the weapon.
``It was a fight for his life and it was a fight for our lives,'' said Staff Sgt. Anthony Minor, 26, of Omaha, Neb. ``We did what we were trained to do.''
Army investigators were questioning the suspect, Sgt. William J. Kreutzer, 26, of Company A, 4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. His hometown was listed as Washington, D.C.
Kreutzer had not been charged by Friday evening, said 18th Airborne Corps spokeswoman Sgt. 1st Class Kiki Bryant.
The dead soldier was identified as Maj. Stephen Mark Badger, 38, an intelligence officer with the 82nd Airborne who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He lived with his wife and children in Fayetteville, but officials did not give further details.
Minor broke his hand getting the weapon, and a bullet fired during the scuffle grazed the ankle of Staff Sgt. Robert Howes of San Antonio, Texas.
``There were four guys sitting on him trying to get his weapon,'' Howes said.
The shooting took place on the field at Towle Stadium, where members of the elite fighting division do their morning calisthenics. The soldiers were standing in ranks in the lighted stadium, about to leave for a run in the dark and fog.
The woods are on a rise overlooking the stadium, a bowl-shaped, fenced-in field with a few concrete bleachers.
``We were in formation down there. We were getting ready to leave. I heard shots and thought it was fireworks. Everybody took off,'' said Pvt. Ezra Johnson, 19, of Frazer, Mont. ``I heard a lot of shots. It sounded like a semi-automatic.''
Army investigators found three weapons: a 9mm pistol, a .22-caliber rifle and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which is a civilian version of the M-16.
The gunman had parked a black Honda CRX on a wide path in the woods that abut the field on one side, then took up a position near the car and fired through the trees, said Capt. Marc Wiggins, spokesman for the 82nd.
``You can see the vantage he would have, a clear sight,'' Wiggins said as he showed reporters the spot. The car was parked in darkness, but the people the gunman was shooting at were illuminated by eight banks of stadium lights.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB