William Kreutzer, Jr.
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SGT William J. Kreutzer, Jr. (born 1969) joined the US Army in February 1992. He made headlines when he opened fire on a formation of soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, killing an officer and wounding 17 other men on October 27th, 1995.
Kreutzer was reportedly suicidal at the age of 16, although at trial his high school vice-principal Ms. Witczak testified that he was an "above average" student. He would later graduate from the University of Maryland. At the time of the shootings, Kreutzer's father was facing criminal charges for sex crimes against a teenage girl a decade earlier.[1]
In March of 1993, Kreutzer was assigned to the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the following January followed the unit to deployment in Sinai.
During his time in the military, Kreutzer reported being the butt of practical jokes, and teasing from fellow soldiers. In the past, Kreutzer had reportedly told a friend that he knew what the record number of people killed in a rampage shooting was, and earned himself the nickname "Crazy Kreutzer".
In June of 1994, Kreutzer broke down in tears while on guard duty in the Sinai, and spoke of killing several other soldiers. He was disciplined, sent to see the division's social worker, Darren Fong, who said he suffered from low self-esteem and anger management problems. He was deemed to be not a threat, but was disallowed weapons for two weeks following the incident.
In October 1994, Kreutzer attended the Primary Leadership Development Course to become a non-commissioned officer, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
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[edit] The shooting
The day before the shooting, Kreutzer confided in his former roommate Spc. Robert Harlan that he needed to talk to Darren Fong again, and when Harlan tried to calm him down, replied "No, Harlan, it’s not going to be alright."[2]
After the discussion, Kreutzer telephoned Spc. Burl Mays to inform him that he would be opening fire on the calisthentics field the next morning. Mays noticed Kreutzer missing at 5am, and alerted his superiors who dismissed the claim saying that Kreutzer was a "pussy", but gave Mays permission to check Kreutzer's room, where he found a copy of his will.
Kreutzer was hiding in the forest alongside the track field, and eventually wounded 18 soldiers with a pair of assault rifles and a semi-automatic pistol, and killed Major Stephen Mark Badger. Three Special Forces soldiers managed to get behind Kreutzer during the shooting, and tackled him to the ground.
[edit] After the shootings
By the time Military Police arrived on the scene, Kreutzer was insisting that he had given plenty of warnings that he was going to snap one day and start killing, but that they had ignored him, and said that it was "God's way".
After arriving at the Criminal Investigation Division office, Kreutzer waived his rights and again asked to speak with Darren Fong, who had since been reassigned. Psychiatrist, Dr. Diamond, was provided in lieu, since Kreutzer had invoked his right to silence and an attorney and refused to speak to the military police. Diamond interviewed Kreutzer, and reported that he seemed delusional and severely distraught.
The following day, Lt. Cmdr Messer (also a doctor of psychiatry) performed a suicide assessment, and declared that there were "definite mental health issues" involved. The following week, Kreutzer asked for a private civilian psychiatrist, for which he would pay, to speak with. Dr. Rollins attended Kreutzer until he was unable to continue paying the psychiatric bills.
On December 8th, a board of doctors from the military hospital deemed Kreutzer mentally fit to stand trial.
At trial, Kreutzer claimed " I wanted to send a message to the chain-of-command that had forgotten the welfare of the common soldier.".
Kreutzer was assigned as prisoner 76651-95-01 on the US Military's death row, one of 8 prisoners at the time, and the only Caucasian. Colonel James Currie of the Army Court of Criminal Appeals commuted Kreutzer's death sentence, citing that his lawyer had not properly informed the courts of his client's mental illnesses.
[edit] Charges
- 1 count of premeditated murder (pled guilty)
- 18 counts of attempted premeditated murder (pled guilty to 17 counts)
- 1 count of violating a lawful general regulation (pled guilty)
- 1 count of larceny of Government munitions (pled guilty)
- 4 counts of maiming (superseded by charge of attempted murder)
- 18 counts of aggravated assault. (17 are superseded by charge of attempted murder, the charge of aggravated assault for Staff Sgt. Howes being shot in the foot during the tussle was overlooked in turn for the rest of the guilty pleas)
[edit] Victims
- Major Stephen Mark Badger, killed
- Major Lofaro, was in a coma for 45 days
- CWO Abraham Castillo, helicopter pilot paralyzed from waist down
- SPC Molon
- SPC Bridges
