Posted on 08/03/2005 11:12:43 AM PDT by absolootezer0
When Matthew Sepi returned from Iraq a few months ago, he spoke to his family reluctantly of gunbattles and the "weird noises" children make when they die. He never told relatives whether he killed anyone during combat but said he recently had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had been placed on a waiting list for treatment.
To help shield his psyche from images of bodies, family members said, the 20-year-old soldier had adopted a simple technique: Just don't think about it.
But early Sunday morning, Army Spc. Sepi found himself thinking about killing in front of homicide detectives. They interrogated Sepi about a double shooting in a neighborhood near Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.
Based on Sepi's version of events, a 1 a.m. walk to a 7-Eleven proved nearly as dangerous as his tour of duty in Iraq.
According to an arrest report filed in Clark County District Court, Sepi told investigators he dressed in a black coat, tucked an assault rifle under his arm and left his apartment for a beer run.
As the 120-pound Sepi journeyed on foot and passed through a dark alley, a man and woman confronted him and yelled for him to leave the alley, police said in the report.
Sepi said the man, identified by authorities as 26-year-old Kevin Ratcliff, produced an object that he thought to be a gun and opened fire.
"(Sepi) explained that he had been trained in the military that in a situation in which he was ambushed, he was to engage the targets and retreat from the area," police wrote in the report. "He felt that the situation in the alley was an ambush, and he reacted the way he had been trained."
Sepi recalled firing four shots. Sharon Jackson, 47, fell to the ground and died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Ratcliff was hit by gunfire and was taken to a hospital. He is expected to survive.
Sepi, meanwhile, had fled the shooting scene and returned to his apartment to grab more ammunition, police said. Minutes later, a police officer pulled over the infantry specialist's Oldsmobile sedan and noticed an assault rifle inside.
Sepi, an American Indian who hails from Winslow, Ariz., was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of one count of murder and attempted murder.
Some evidence might lend credence to Sepi's self-defense story.
"We do know the victim's boyfriend (Ratcliff) got off a few rounds as well," police Lt. Tom Monahan said.
Police said they recovered a 9 mm pistol and three spent 9 mm casings at the crime scene.
Police are investigating Sepi's story that someone had pulled a knife on him, while he was unarmed, the day before the shooting.
Now why on earth would anyone want to link a U.S. soldier with the noises children make when they die? Life imitates "Over There" already?
the ol "baby killer" routine..hell grownups make weird noises too...
"Sepi said the man, identified by authorities as 26-year-old Kevin Ratcliff, produced an object that he thought to be a gun and opened fire."
Obviously I have no idea what actually happened here, but depending on whether Sepi was visibly carrying his weapon or was visibly acting oddly, it is also entirely possible that the male, despite whatever his other activities (men in allies at late night aren't selling lemonade), was totally justified in drawing his weapon and firing.
120 pounds?????
don't make fun, i weigh 112 at 5'9"
i know there are max weight regs for AD personnel, are there minimum weight limits as well?
I wasn't making fun, just wondered if it was a typo.
sorry.
I have no idea. To a civilian such as myself, I just thought he'd be a lot......bigger.
LEFT-HANDED DEMOCRAT-VOTING COLLEGE GRADUATE charged with MURDER!!!!
I was 6'1" and 145 when I enlisted.
Waiting for treatment of PTSD. Where did that happen? Not at a VA hospital. They are great about getting PTSD patients into a treatment program.
The police might want to check on unsolved murders that occurred in this guy's neighborhood PRIOR to him going into the Army.
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