Posted on 04/22/2003 5:59:14 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Levelland ex-resident continues recovery from gunshot wounds Caswell plans to share his story with Lubbock churches in June
BY JOHN REYNOLDS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
LEVELLAND — Don Caswell continues to recover from the damage caused by a religious fanatic's bullets but he has begun to share his terrifying story with others across the state, his mother, Mary Caswell, said Monday.
The 49-year-old pharmacist, who was raised in Levelland, was gunned down Dec. 30 in the Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen, where he worked.
Three friends and colleagues, Kathleen A. Gariety of Wauwatosa, Wis., Martha C. Myers of Montgomery, Ala., and William E. Koehn of Kansas, were killed in the bloody attack.
The suspected gunman in the shooting, Abed Abdul Razak Kamel, 30, was arrested after the shooting. He was brought before a judge in Yemen on Sunday.
By attacking the hospital, Kamel claimed that he was defending Islam from those who were proselytizing Yemenis and sterilizing Muslim women.
Caswell's mother, Mary, said her son already has made statements to the FBI and to Yemeni authorities.
She said that she does not believe that her son will be required to go to Yemen to testify.
Upon leaving Yemen, Caswell initially returned to his family home in February, going to Levelland to spend two weeks with family and friends while his wounds mended, his mother said.
He then went to the East Texas town of Eustace to continue his recovery, she said.
He lived there before going to Yemen, Mary Caswell said.
"He's doing really well," she added. "The kids are attending school in Eustace."
A bullet remains lodged in muscle tissue in Caswell's upper hip, she said, a reminder of how close he came to losing his life.
After a gunman walked into a staff meeting and opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle, he then confronted Caswell, shooting him three times in the abdomen.
Caswell later told his mother that the gunman pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger twice more. However, the gun didn't fire.
As he recovers, Caswell speaks to various organizations about his experiences.
His mother said Caswell will speak to congregations in the Lubbock area in late June.
"I think he was spared for a reason," she said. "That's his faith that got him through."
Caswell and his family still grieve for his slain colleagues because "they were such good friends," Mary Caswell said.
She also said Caswell's motivations for being in Yemen were misunderstood by his would-be killer.
The 80-bed hospital reportedly treats more than 40,000 patients annually, providing free health-care to the poor.
Control of the clinic has been transferred to a local charity founded by the Yemeni Foreign Minister.
"They didn't go over there as missionaries," she said. "They were there as humanitarians. They did not openly profess their faith. Their faith showed through the way they treated the people."
jreynolds@lubbockonline.com 766-8725
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