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| Police vehicles and an ambulance block a road near a Tennessee National Guard armory where two Guard members were shot on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, in Millington, Tenn. A member of the National Guard opened fire at the armory outside a U.S. Navy base in Tennessee, wounding two soldiers before being subdued and disarmed by others soldiers, officials said Thursday. |
MEMPHIS, Tenn.
(AP) -- A Tennessee National Guard recruiter was charged in federal
court on Friday, accused of shooting three of his superiors at an armory
after he was told he would be relieved of duty and dismissed from
active service.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge
Diane Vescovo told Amos Patton he is charged with committing assaults
within the maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States
and carrying a weapon during a federal crime of violence.
The
42-year-old sergeant first class was ordered to the armory north of
Memphis Thursday, where he was told that he was being relieved of duty,
reduced in rank and recommended for removal from active reserve, U.S.
Attorney Edward Stanton III said at a Friday news conference.
Following
the meeting, Patton was ordered to return government equipment that was
in his vehicle outside the building, located in Millington, the
complaint said. Patton had a "fanny pack" with him when he returned.
When Patton tried to access the pack, one Guardsman yelled "gun," the
complaint says. Patton then opened fire, hitting three Guardsmen, wrote
FBI Special Agent Matthew Ross.
The complaint
does not detail the nature of the misconduct. Patton, of the Memphis
suburb of Cordova, had been in the Guard 14 years, Stanton said.
The
complaint says Patton then ran from the building before another
Guardsman caught up with him, subdued him and held him until Millington
police arrived. The handgun was recovered at the scene.
Everything took "no more than just a minute or so," said FBI Special Agent Todd McCall.
Officials
on Thursday identified two of the three victims as Tennessee National
Guardsmen Maj. William J. Crawford and Sgt. Maj. Ricky R. McKenzie. Both
were recruiters who were Patton's superiors. One was shot in the lower
leg and the other in the foot.
On Friday, the
Guard identified the third victim as Lt. Col. Hunter Belcher, also above
Patton in the chain of command. He was grazed by a bullet just below
the right knee. Another round went through a backpack Belcher was
wearing, but did not injure him. All three men were treated and
released.
In court on Friday, the judge
scheduled a probable cause and detention hearing for Wednesday. Patton
told the judge that he could not afford his own lawyer, and Vescovo
granted his request to appoint a public defender.
Patton,
who wore an orange jumpsuit and was shackled at the hands and feet, is
being held without bond. If convicted, he could serve up to 20 years in
prison on the assault charge and a minimum of 10 years on the firearms
charge.
Patton's wife, Brenda, declined comment outside the courtroom Friday.
Maj.
Gen. Max Haston, adjutant general of the Tennessee Guard, said the two
wounded recruiters were veterans who had served overseas. Asked Thursday
about the discipline the gunman had faced before the shooting, Haston
would say only that there were "administrative policies and procedures
that we were going through with him."
Haston said security protocols were followed closely and he was proud that the shooter was quickly subdued by other soldiers.
"It makes me proud, but it also scares me to death that something like this can happen," Haston said Thursday.
Millington Police Chief Rita Stanback said the shooter did not have the handgun in his possession by the time officers arrived.
The
armory, which houses a recruitment office, sits across the street from
Naval Support Activity Mid-South on land that used to be part of a
larger military installation. Navy officials ordered a lockdown there
during the tense minutes after the midafternoon shooting, lifting it
after word came that the gunman was in custody.
The
base is home to human resources operations and serves as headquarters
to the Navy Personnel Command, Navy Recruiting Command, the Navy
Manpower Analysis Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Finance
Center.
