Chris Kyle Shot And Killed at Gun Range

[overture]

Chris Kyle, Author Of 'American Sniper,' Shot And Killed At Gun Range

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/02/chris-kyle-dead_n_2608772.html

Chris Kyle, an ex-Navy SEAL who wrote the bestelling book American Sniper about his service in Iraq, was shot and killed at a gun range in Texas, multiple outlets reported Saturday night. A second man was also killed.

According to local TV station KHOU, officials said that Kyle was shot at point-blank range "while helping another soldier who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome" at a range near the town of Glen Rose.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Lancaster, Texas police arrested a suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, after a brief chase.

Kyle had become well-known for his exploits in Iraq, where he deployed four times, set the record for sniper kills at 150, received numerous commendations, and, according to the Stephensville Empire Tribune, was given the nickname "The Devil of Ramadi" by insurgents.

[casmgn]

WTF was he thinking bringing soldiers suffering from PTSD to a shooting range?!?!

[Velar Fricative]

Feb 3, 2013 8:49:50 GMT -5 casmgn said:

WTF was he thinking bringing soldiers suffering from PTSD to a shooting range?!?!

Where does it say he brought this person there? Or is it unusual to help a stranger at a gun range? 

[panicked]

Feb 3, 2013 9:05:41 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Feb 3, 2013 8:49:50 GMT -5 casmgn said:

WTF was he thinking bringing soldiers suffering from PTSD to a shooting range?!?!

Where does it say he brought this person there? Or is it unusual to help a stranger at a gun range? 

It's not unusual at all to help someone at the range. My husband does it all the time, especially if someone has a jammed weapon or is a new shooter. This is just so sad.

[ttt]

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

[casmgn]

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

For the crazy gun people, no. They will make it about the PTSD, not about the gun.

[soontobeka]

It has been a very crazy gun related week here. On top of this incident, we had an assistant DA who was shot. Both incidents are awful.

[glowatx]

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

You would think so: How much clearer of an example does one need that more guns and more people trained with guns =/= more freedom/safer society/etc., etc., etc...

[foundmylazybum]

Feb 3, 2013 11:48:02 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

For the crazy gun people, no. They will make it about the PTSD, not about the gun.

Why would you have to be a "crazy gun person" to consider the impact of a soldier suffering with PTSD in the situation?

I think that's a pretty important factor.

[gpw]

well, clearly gun ranges should now be banned.

[druidprincess]

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

So Chris Kyle was not a good guy with guns? 

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

Maybe it will at least put to rest the "armed vets in schools" idea. How tragic.

[thejackpot]

So awful. Two people lost their lives. Is his relationship to the shooter known yet?

[IIOY]

Feb 3, 2013 12:22:20 GMT -5 gpw said:

well, clearly gun ranges should now be banned.

I literally laughed out loud at this.

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2013 13:45:24 GMT -5 @mjmksb04 said:

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

Maybe it will at least put to rest the "armed vets in schools" idea. How tragic.

this is probably really un-pc but it scares me to think that veterans get hiring preference for police/sheriff positions and now we are hiring 24 new officers so we can have armed officers in our elementary schools,

[glowatx]

Feb 3, 2013 13:41:36 GMT -5 druidprincess said:

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

So Chris Kyle was not a good guy with guns? 

??

He was the ultimate good guy with a gun. And without a doubt the best shot in the room.

[casmgn]

Feb 3, 2013 12:20:53 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

Feb 3, 2013 11:48:02 GMT -5 casmgn said:

For the crazy gun people, no. They will make it about the PTSD, not about the gun.

Why would you have to be a "crazy gun person" to consider the impact of a soldier suffering with PTSD in the situation?

I think that's a pretty important factor.

Of course it should be considered, and it is a topic I am actively involved in. However, it is only part of the discussion, and the crazies will make it the entire discussion. Guns also need to be an integral part of the discussion.

[summer]

I read he was volunteering with vets suffering from PTSD and one of the things they did with the vets was take them to the shooting range.



(Reuters) - The man accused of gunning down former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, a prominent military sniper, and a second man at a Texas shooting range has been arraigned on two counts of capital murder, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Sunday.



Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was accused of killing Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, a neighbor of Kyle, on Saturday afternoon at the Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the department said.



"They were shot at close range," said department spokesman Sergeant Lonny Haschel said.



Kyle, considered one of America's deadliest snipers after killing 160 people during his career as U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, wrote the book "American Sniper" about his military service from 1999 to 2009.



Routh, described in local media reports as a former Marine who suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), was arrested at his Lancaster, Texas home several hours after the shooting, having led police on a chase in his pickup truck.



"He was taken into custody after a brief pursuit," Haschel said.



According to a posting on a website run by members of the Special Operations Forces community, Kyle had been volunteering his time to help Marine Corps veterans suffering from PTSD and mentoring them.



"Part of this process involved taking these veterans to the range," said the posting on SOFREP.com.



WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the two men had taken Routh to the shooting range for the day to help him deal with his PTSD.



Routh was arraigned at the Lancaster municipal jail on Saturday on two counts of capital murder, a spokesman for the department of public safety said. The Erath County Sheriff's Office planned a news conference later on Sunday.



"It just comes as a shock and it's staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed" in Iraq, Scott McEwen, who wrote the book with Kyle, told Reuters.



Kyle served four combat tours of duty in Iraq and elsewhere, and he won two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars for bravery, according to his book.



After leaving the Navy, Kyle founded Craft International, a firm that provided combat and weapons training to military, police, corporate and civilian clients.



Kyle is the co-author of another book coming out in May titled "American Gun - A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms."



In the wake of the slayings of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in December, Kyle was interviewed in January about rising calls for curbing U.S. gun violence. He told the website guns.com he favored arming teachers who have been screened and trained and spoke against restrictions on gun owners.

[casmgn]

Feb 3, 2013 13:41:36 GMT -5 druidprincess said:

Feb 3, 2013 11:40:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

Will this possibly put to rest the nonsense about "good guys with guns"

So Chris Kyle was not a good guy with guns? 

I believe she meant that a good guy had a gun, which the NRA has said is the answer to our problems, yet a tragedy still occurred.

[casmgn]

Feb 3, 2013 14:05:09 GMT -5 summer said:

I read he was volunteering with vets suffering from PTSD and one of the things they did with the vets was take them to the shooting range.

So back to my original comment. This is certainly a tragedy, but WTF was he thinking bringing vets with active PTSD to go shooting?

[summer]

Feb 3, 2013 14:10:45 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Feb 3, 2013 14:05:09 GMT -5 summer said:

I read he was volunteering with vets suffering from PTSD and one of the things they did with the vets was take them to the shooting range.

So back to my original comment. This is certainly a tragedy, but WTF was he thinking bringing vets with active PTSD to go shooting?

I don't know.  Adam Lanza's mom took her troubled son to the range.  I think people think it'll help them blow off steam in a more controlled environment?

[gpw]

Feb 3, 2013 14:10:45 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Feb 3, 2013 14:05:09 GMT -5 summer said:

I read he was volunteering with vets suffering from PTSD and one of the things they did with the vets was take them to the shooting range.

So back to my original comment. This is certainly a tragedy, but WTF was he thinking bringing vets with active PTSD to go shooting?

are we victim blaming here?

[elleblue]

This is just all kinds of sad. I do question the wisdom of taking vets w/PTSD to a gun range, but I'm in no way victim blaming here as that was obviously part of the program in which he volunteered.

[earlgreyhot]

Feb 3, 2013 14:30:49 GMT -5 elleblue said:

This is just all kinds of sad. I do question the wisdom of taking vets w/PTSD to a gun range, but I'm in no way victim blaming here as that was obviously part of the program in which he volunteered.

Agree. And Ditto the idea he was the ultimate good guy with a gun, but was still at a disadvantage to a "crazy" with a gun. 

I'm curious to know more why/how shooting guns is a form of therapy. Seems counterintuitive, and like a contribution to our violent society. 

[foundmylazybum]

Feb 3, 2013 14:04:35 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Feb 3, 2013 12:20:53 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

Why would you have to be a "crazy gun person" to consider the impact of a soldier suffering with PTSD in the situation?

I think that's a pretty important factor.

Of course it should be considered, and it is a topic I am actively involved in. However, it is only part of the discussion, and the crazies will make it the entire discussion. Guns also need to be an integral part of the discussion.

I'm honestly curious--although a bit off topic--but this verbiage comes up all the time here:

Please define a "crazy gun" person for me and the group?

Also those "gun people who scream" all the time.


What does a "sane" gun person look like to you all?

[casmgn]

Crazy gun person = someone who thinks they have a right to own any gun ever made, that there shouldn't be any limits, and refuse to believe that gun reform is needed in this country.

[casmgn]

Also, not victim blaming because clearly he didn't deserve to be shot or killed. However I don't think it is unreasonable to question why he thought using guns as PTSD therapy was a safe or good idea, or to recognize that he out himself in a precarious situation.

[gpw]

Feb 3, 2013 14:52:06 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

Feb 3, 2013 14:04:35 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Of course it should be considered, and it is a topic I am actively involved in. However, it is only part of the discussion, and the crazies will make it the entire discussion. Guns also need to be an integral part of the discussion.

I'm honestly curious--although a bit off topic--but this verbiage comes up all the time here:

Please define a "crazy gun" person for me and the group?

Also those "gun people who scream" all the time.


What does a "sane" gun person look like to you all?

1.  Anyone who owns a gun or who defends the second amendment in any way.  
2.  See #1
3.  No such thing.  

YWIA.  HTH.  

[pescalita]

It's not like you're introducing a new hobby to vets. Range time is kinda their thing anyways.

[gpw]

Feb 3, 2013 15:35:30 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

Feb 3, 2013 15:29:19 GMT -5 pescalita said:

It's not like you're introducing a new hobby to vets. Range time is kinda their thing anyways.

But, according to the NRA, someone with PTSD should be in a special database and not have access to a gun, no?

Also, Druid, please note how gpointe used sarcasm and is not contributing to be discussion. It's not just us liberals with the "but Hitler!" comments.

Fmlb - to me a crazy gun person is one who thinks any restriction is unconstitutional and refuses to acknowledge that easy accessibility to guns are part of the problem.

huh.  I think, save for this issue, druid, and most everyone else here save you, would consider me liberal.  

I'm just over the pearl clutching.  On both sides.