Posted on 03/15/2008 1:52:07 AM PDT by SolidWood
BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier stationed in southern Germany was shot dead by police after threatening an ex-girlfriend and then going on the run armed with an assault rifle, authorities said on Friday.
The 30-year old, who was serving in the 2nd, "Dagger," brigade of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, broke into the woman's house late on Thursday, threatened her and tied her up, police in the Bavarian region of Unterfranken said.
She was able to free herself and alerted the police, who began a search using a commando unit and a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging equipment.
Officers found the soldier several hundred meters from the woman's house and tried to arrest him but he threatened them with the semi-automatic rifle and was shot, police said.
He died in hospital early on Friday, according to a statement from the "Dagger" Brigade Chain of Command.
"The Dagger Brigade along with the United States Army Europe takes incidents of this nature extremely seriously and will continue to work with the German authorities to maintain community safety," the statement said.
The name of the soldier was being withheld until his next of kin had been informed, it added.
German police said there was no indication that officers had acted illegally and prosecutors were not planning to open an investigation into the marksmen.
"The officers had to assume that the suspect was going to fire on them with the weapon," a police statement said.
(Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
I’m guessing it was his Army issue rifle. The Army takes the security of its weapons very seriously, but nothing’s foolproof. When I was over there, a determined thief could very easily have broken into our unit’s armory in the middle of the night and made off with a rifle or ten within a few minutes if he really wanted to. Also, depending on the guy’s rank, he could’ve slipped away with his rifle while going to or returning from the field or the rifle range, etc.
I brought my weapons to Germany with me. You just need to file a form. I think it was called an ABC Form 1 or something.
My rifles I could keep at home, my pistols had to be stored in my Unit’s Armory, when not in use.
When I was stationed in Mannheim, we had excellent Pistol Range. It was right next door to the Stockade. :)
I have no problem, at all, with it. It IS their Country. Many heinous crimes have been committed by Americans over there, and our MP’s are, basically, trained to deal with Military matters. AFAIK, only our Army CID are trained and authorized to enforce off base, without a special agreement.
As I remember it...
Garrison MP’s=Traffic Cops, domestic disputes, Barracks fights,etc.
MPI’s=Investigator’s. Accidents, petty crimes, on base drug busts, etc.
CID=Criminalists. Major crimes.
Says it all for me:
“Officers found the soldier several hundred meters from the woman’s house and tried to arrest him but he threatened them with the semi-automatic rifle and was shot, police said.”
Soldier or not ... he knows the rules of engagement.
Polizei do not f’ing play.
“Here in the Kaiserslautern area...we even had the Army wife (active duty)...who stabbed her alcoholic husband when he threatened her...which she will be facing some kind of assault charges apparently in German court.”
K-town huh? I was Stationed at Landstuhl for 4 years. Lived on Vogelweh. Great area.
Nope, this took place in a German community off base. The young man knew full well what he was dealing with.
“I used to find it somewhat unsettling to see the their cops in white hat, green blazers and automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.”
I always found it comforting.
Exactly the way it ought to be!
I’ve always thought germanic people, including scandinavians, have a far less compromising view of the law. If it’s illegal, you don’t do it. There are no other considerations.
I once saw an American trying to convince a Norwegian to smoke pot... Like arguing with a brick wall.
“Long before 9/11, as you walked through their airports, I used to find it somewhat unsettling to see the their cops in white hat, green blazers and automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.”
Germany had serious problems with leftist terrorist in the 1970s. They got it managed without starting war whith almost the complete middle east. Remember Mogadishu 1977 ?
If this was a guy coming back from Iraq, we are going to be treated to lots more about this incident.
The press is working on spinning our victory in Iraq back into a Vietnam failure, complete with it’s own “crazy vets” myth.
It’s sad if true. With all the lefties and their spinning especially against America and her troops...who the F knows for sure. Maybe the military will do their own investigation and we’ll know for sure this is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Was this recently that you took your weapons with you to Germany?
91-92. I was a Military “dependent” (spouse) at the time. I lived in Gross Zimmern, sub of Darmstadt.
Has it changed since?
Just looked it up - apparently the SOFA was renegotiated a few years ago (I remember hearing something about that).
The following information was taken from this page:
http://www.irwin.army.mil/HQGarrison/Staff/Logistics/CountryInstructions-Germany.htm
(similar information at a USAREUR web site)
Privately Owned Firearms (POFs)
To avoid the possibility of German criminal prosecution for unauthorized possession of weapons or the possibility of punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, privately owned firearms will not be shipped, handcarried, or transported in luggage to Germany until further notice. The ownership and possession of privately owned firearms is prohibited by German law unless the owner has a German Weapons Possession Card(Waffenbesitzkarte). Headquarters, USAREUR and German Federal Ministry of the Interior are developing procedures to enable military and civilian personnel assigned to Germany and their dependents to obtain these cards through the USAREUR Central Registry. This instruction will be modified or rescinded when the weapons permit procedures are finalized and implemented. (CH)
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