GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The decorated but previously injured US soldier who appears to have gone on a solo shooting rampage in Afghanistan will be charged with the deaths of the 17 civilians who died, in addition to other charges, the US Army announced. Robert Bales, 38, was flown to Kuwait a week ago and then to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is imprisoned. The charges will be read to him there Friday. He could face the death penalty, but the trial is widely expected to last months or years, a fact that has upset Afghanistan, which has called for a swift trial.
Bales is accused of entering homes and shooting sleeping villagers the night of 11 March. Afghan witnesses say there was more than one soldier, but there are no other suspects. His lawyer is playing down stories that Bales was drunk the night of the shootings, saying that his client recalls little of that night. The day before the shootings he had seen a friend’s leg blown off. He is the father of two and the family lives in Washington state.
Links to other sites: BBC, AP/Fox News, Guardian, Times of India
Four people are dead after a lone gunman went on a shooting spree in the Espoo shopping centre near Helsinki, Finland Thursday morning 31 December. Another is injured. The man, who reportedly has a criminal record, opened fire on the second floor of the mall. The Times, UK, reports that “there are 1.6 million firearms in private hands in Finland, which has a population of just 5.3 million. It ranks in the top five nations in the world for civilian gun ownership.”
Links to other sites: The Times, UK,
The US Army major who went on a rampage and killed 13 people at a US Army base at Fort Hood, Texas 6 November has been charged with 13 counts of murder. Nidal Hasan has been in hospital since he was shot by police officers, and may be paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the wounds he sustained, according to his defense attorney who saw him in prison. AP, Reuters
