SEATTLE – The lawyer representing the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians says the soldier had been very upset that somebody in his unit had been "gravely injured." John Henry Browne spoke Thursday evening at a news conference in Seattle. He says the incident that troubled the suspect happened the day before he is accused of going on a shooting rampage.
Browne says the soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, had no prior events in his Army dossier indicating misbehavior, but he had twice been injured during tours in Iraq and was reluctant to leave on his fourth deployment.
"He wasn't thrilled about going on another deployment," Browne said. "He was told he wasn't going back, and then he was told he was going."
Browne said he has been asked to represent the soldier, a 38-year-old staff sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
The soldier is from the Seattle area and asked to be represented by Browne when he was taken into custody, the lawyer said. Browne said he has met with the staff sergeant's family, and unless the soldier is returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the next few days, he will travel to meet the soldier wherever he is in custody.
Browne declined to release the soldier's name, which the Army has withheld.
"Everybody is worried about the safety of his family, and I am honoring that," Browne said.
The soldier is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in villages near his base in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civilians and then burning some of their bodies. The shooting, which followed a controversial Koran-burning incident involving U.S. soldiers, has outraged Afghan officials.
Browne said he has a limited amount of information about his prospective client. He described the soldier as highly decorated and said he had twice been injured during deployments to Iraq, once suffering a concussive head injury and once a serious leg injury.
Some reports have indicated that alcohol may have been a factor in the shootings. Browne said that as far as the soldier's family knew, he did not have a drinking problem.
Browne recently represented Colton Harris-Moore, who gained international attention as the "Barefoot Bandit" for stealing airplanes, boats and cars during a two-year run from the law. Browne said he has only handled three or four military cases before. The soldier will also have at least one military lawyer.
The soldier deployed in December. A congressional source, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, told The Associated Press that he was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team before being assigned to a village stability operation near the villages where the attack took place.