FORT BRAGG (AP) --Deputy Shoots two soldiers during their training.

[warpedskydiver 0]

FORT BRAGG (AP) -- A newly released Army report about the shooting death of a soldier during Special Forces training in February is raising new questions about what really happened.

Two witnesses to the fatal shooting give accounts that conflict with the version given by the sheriff's deputy who killed 1st Lt. Tallas Tomeny during the during the "Robin Sage" exercise in Moore County, according to the report obtained by The News & Observer of Raleigh.

The two witnesses -- one civilian and one soldier who were both involved in the training exercise -- said Deputy Randall Butler shot and killed Tomeny after Tomeny had been disabled by a chemical spray, and wounded another soldier who was reacting to the shooting of Tomeny.

After a two-day investigation in February, Moore County District Attorney Garland Yates said he would not press charges, calling it a tragic case of mistaken identity.

But a 155-page report obtained by the News & Observer details the Army Special Operations Command investigation. It concluded that the Army contributed to the case of mistaken identity by never telling local law enforcement officers that the exercise was under way.

Both Yates and Moore County Sheriff Frank Johnson said they were not aware of the conflicting testimony and said the Army has not given them copies of its investigation.

The Army report does not reach a clear conclusion on what happened once the fatal encounter was under way. Army investigators did not interview Butler.

"Each recollection is so different we could not tell which one is right," said Maj. Scott Sterns, a spokesman for the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, which conducted the investigation. "That's where the problems are. It's hard to know what happened."

The shooting took place during Robin Sage, a Special Forces role-playing exercise in which students learn to work with guerrilla and underground forces, who are played by civilians.

The 19-day wargame takes place in 14 counties in North Carolina dubbed "Pineland." In the past, civilians and law enforcement officers have played a part in the training.

On Feb. 23, Butler stopped Phelps, Tomeny and Charles Leiber, a civilian participant. Butler placed Leiber in a passenger seat of his squad car and approached the truck.

According to testimony Butler gave SBI investigators, the deputy said he searched Tomeny's bag and found two machine guns. He then wrestled the bag from Tomeny and threw it toward his car. Butler said Tomeny came toward him, forcing him to push the soldier with one hand and draw his gun with the other.

Butler said he holstered his gun, removed his chemical spray and began to spray Tomeny. The two struggled. Butler said Phelps jumped from the truck. Butler again drew his weapon and commanded Phelps, who was now behind the patrol car, to put his hands up. He shot Phelps after he didn't comply and then turned toward Tomeny. He ordered Tomeny to show his hands and shot him twice when he did not comply.

Butler said he felt the need to use deadly force because he was outnumbered and thought his life was in danger.

Leiber, whose name is blacked out in the report, said in a six-page sworn statement April 24 that after Butler placed him in the squad car, he told Butler he was from Pineland.

Leiber said he saw Tomeny try to bribe Butler with money from Pineland, which looks like Monopoly money. Phelps confirmed that Tomeny tried to offer the fake bribe. Both said Butler declined the bribe and asked Tomeny to remove the contents of the bag.

"He turned toward the deputy; he was crouched down like he was going to lunge for the deputy," Leiber said.

At this point the deputy started using the chemical spray. As he did so, Leiber said, Tomeny was backpedaling, screaming and shaking his head. Leiber said the deputy advanced on the soldier until the spray ran out; then he dropped the canister and took a couple of steps back, away from Tomeny. The deputy then drew his weapon and shot Tomeny. He immediately turned toward Phelps and shot him twice, according to Leiber.

Phelps' account, given March 14, was similar, although he said he did not see Tomeny get shot. Phelps said he darted from the back of the truck after the deputy began to spray Tomeny. Phelps grabbed the bag, which the deputy had thrown from the back of the truck, and began to run. He continued to think that he was in a training scenario and that the deputy was part of the exercise.

"I may have taken one or two steps when I heard two shots, double-tap speed," he said. Phelps said he stopped, crouched behind the squad car and turned toward Butler. "I immediately heard two more shots, just as before, I felt them hit my chest. I fell to the ground. I coughed up some blood."

Andy Gregson, who handled the case for the Moore County District Attorney's Office, said it was clear to him that Butler did the right thing.

"He's out there alone, with no backup, sees an automatic weapon and is threatened with death," Gregson said. "What else can he do?"

Gregson said he has not seen the Army report but spoke with Army investigators in the days after the shooting. He said there would be no further investigation of the incident: "It's over."

In the days after the shooting, Army officials said they had notified all law enforcement agencies about the training without giving them details. In April, the Army said it needed to do a better job notifying law enforcement agencies when students are training in their area, but made no mention of the specific policies requiring trainers to do so.

"There was a belief within the military establishment that the law enforcement community was familiar with the exercise, particularly since it has been conducted for so many years," the statement said.

But the newly released report said the sergeant in charge of the training "did not contact or coordinate with any members of law enforcement during the cycle break."

"Now we have a very specific notification policy that requires a face-to-face meeting," said Maj. Sterns, the spokesman for the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

He said law enforcement officers who participate in the training are now required to wear a distinctive uniform, and auxiliary members have identifiers on their cars.

[warpedskydiver 0]

http://www.ncmd.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Jul06/04cv151moo.pdf

Read the PDF the Officer is lying like a rug.

He pulled his weapon and killed a man lying on the ground that had been sprayed with OC, then shot the other soldier twice in the chest as he was fleeing.

The officer should face murder and attempted murder charges.

[warpedskydiver 0]

It appears the right asserted by plaintiffs is the right not
to have the vehicle they were riding in stopped without reasonable
suspicion that they were involved in criminal activity. Butler has
not argued this right was not clearly established at the time he
stopped Leiber’s truck, but only claims that the stop was legal, or
at least a reasonable officer in his position could have thought
the stop was legal."

"the truck violated no traffic laws and had a current
and valid inspection sticker and registration. This is not in
dispute, but it is also not relevant. Butler makes no claim that
he stopped the truck because it violated a traffic law or was not
properly registered or inspected.
Next, plaintiffs challenge certain of the facts that Butler
relies on to establish reasonable suspicion. They describe
Butler’s reliance on “a rash of property crimes” as a “fabricated,
after-the-fact explanation” for the stop. (Pl. Brf. p. 9) They
report that a review of the files from the Moore County Sheriff’s
Office “shows no upswing in property crimes in the northern part of
the county” at that time. (Id.) However, whether there was a
statistical “upswing” in property crimes or not, Butler has
testified that such crimes were occurring in the area. This
testimony is supported by testimony from Robbins police officer
Jerry Garner who describes some of the crimes and who himself
accidentally stopped some Robin Sage participants while
investigating those crimes. (Jerry Garner Aff. ¶¶ 4-5, 7-9; Jerry
Garner Dep. Ex. 6"

[warpedskydiver 0]

The second theory raised in the amended complaint, and one
that is pursued by plaintiffs at summary judgment, is that there
was a history and pattern of unlawful traffic stops and uses of
excessive force by deputies with the Sheriff’s Department, that the
Sheriff knew of these incidents, that he condoned the conduct by
doing nothing, and that Butler’s alleged conduct was in keeping
with the custom and practice that developed in the Sheriff’s
Department as a result of the lack of action by the Sheriff.

In addition to the four incidents, plaintiffs also note that
Butler was once sued for using excessive force when he was a police
officer in Sanford, North Carolina, that the Sheriff’s Department
hired him anyway, and that the Department was itself being sued in
federal court at that time in an excessive force case.5 Also,
plaintiffs claim that the officers involved in the four incidents
set out above failed to follow proper procedure by not filing use
of force reports or recording citizen complaints. Plaintiffs
allege that failing to follow proper use of force procedure created
a laxity in the department that made the shooting and killing of
arrestees “almost bound to happen sooner or later.” Spell, 824
F.2d at 1391. The Court finds this argument attempts to reach much
too far.
Based on the four incidents, the two lawsuits, and the alleged
failure to follow proper procedure, plaintiffs have constructed the
following scenario. They say that Sheriff’s deputies, including
Butler, were engaging in excessive uses of force, that they were
not filing proper reports, that the Sheriff at the time would have
been aware of this by reading the incident reports that were filed,
and that the Sheriff took no measures to stop the use of excessive
force or compel his employees to file the proper reports. They
also claim that the incident involving Butler and Brewer shows that

[warpedskydiver 0]

The officer that perpetrated this offense has been promoted to Chief Deputy

[warpedskydiver 0]

I am taking bets on how long it will take for the perp to have an "accident"

Sounds like a nice training opprtunity to me.

[tigra 0]

Do you have any concerns with the fact that the military admits they didn't notify local law enforcement of their "training exercise"? The cop didn't know about the "war games" but the soldiers/civilan assumed he was a part of the exercise and behaved accordingly.

Who was the real "perp" here? The cop who was outnumbered in a rural area with 3 heavily armed men who were behaving erratically, or the military officer in charge of the training exercise who neglected to notify local law enforcement?

[Gene03 0]

The bigger question should be; what is the Army doing these "urban" exercises for?

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[warpedskydiver 0]

You have to read all the documents, it seems that there is a consensus that the deputy lied about the incident.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Robin Sage has been going on every year for the last 40 or so.

[beowulf 1]

urban warfare DUH
Baghdad??

[warpedskydiver 0]

The deputy merely thought the occupants of the vehicle were suspicious looking.

No lawful means for a stop.

The SF guy tried to bribe him with "Pineland Currency".

The officer had no idea that these men had rifles in a backpack, nor was there a legal reason to search.

The deputy claims he saw machine guns, it is fact he only saw the weapons after the shooting according to a civilian witness.

[Skyrad 0]

Sounds like a total gang fuck.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[warpedskydiver 0]

There are disputes over whether or not the military notified the locals.

If there were no contact by the military at all before exercises started I would also blame the command structure.

I think there is a good indication that this was a cop who was very aggressive, and may have pulled spray and weapon way too soon.

He had been implicated in incidents involving excessive use of force multiple times.

[kallend 2,118]

Quote

The deputy merely thought the occupants of the vehicle were suspicious looking.

No lawful means for a stop.

Maybe they looked Islamic or African American, or fit some other profile.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[tigra 0]

In the article you posted, the military clearly admits they didn't give proper notification and also indicates that their procedures will change in the future so the participants in their exercises will be able to tell the difference between the "real" deputies and the ones who are part of their "game". The article also indicates that the military is just now admitting that they didn't give adequate notification, so both sides have apparently been guilty of distorting the truth and changing their stories.

If the soldiers had known they were dealing with a "real" deputy who was not aware of their training exercise, they would most likely have behaved differently. Overzealous deputy or not, no shots would have been fired. It was a tragic and entirely preventable incident, and the blame lies pretty squarely with the military officers in charge of the exercise.

[JohnnyD 0]

Quote

The deputy merely thought the occupants of the vehicle were suspicious looking.

No lawful means for a stop.

.

I'm not sure what you're reading, but there is actually a very detailed explanation of the reasons for the stop and why it was legal - written by the judge.
If you read the court document, it seems this guy is in a rural environment with three suspects acting very strangely. Situation escalates and the officer responds. He even went so far as to employ non-lethal methods before firing his weapon. I'm surprised the gun freaks here aren't suggesting this guy should get a free dinner or something. Maybe the Army should be trying to recruit him. He made some pretty short work of a truck load of green berets.

[steveorino 7]

What amazes me is that this didn't happen until recently. We did Robin Sage there in 1978 when I graduated SF. I know it was going on long before that as well.

steveOrino

[steveorino 7]

Quote

He made some pretty short work of a truck load of green berets.

With no loaded weapons and who were on an exercise and thought the deputy was part of it.

What an asinine statement!

steveOrino

[GQ_jumper 4]

Actually this one's old as hell, this happened about a year before I went through Sage.

And the local authorities were notified, the comittee that runs the exercise has a checklist they follow before every iteration that includes informing local authorities, that is one of the biggest concerns about the exercise. A bunch of soldiers sneakin around with machine guns in peoples back yards wearing civilian clothes, yeah the police know. This one particular deputy somehow did not get the word. Which is why we now have to wear certain pieces of clothing to identify us, carry special ID cards, we are clearly instructed not to engage anyone in hand to hand, and all role players involved with the scenario that are suppsoed to be law enforcement officials wear arm bands taht say role player.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[warpedskydiver 0]

I am re reading this pdf file and it looks like the cop is even worse than I thought.

WOW

[JohnnyD 0]

Quote

Actually this one's old as hell, this happened about a year before I went through Sage.

And the local authorities were notified, the comittee that runs the exercise has a checklist they follow before every iteration that includes informing local authorities, that is one of the biggest concerns about the exercise. A bunch of soldiers sneakin around with machine guns in peoples back yards wearing civilian clothes, yeah the police know. This one particular deputy somehow did not get the word. Which is why we now have to wear certain pieces of clothing to identify us, carry special ID cards, we are clearly instructed not to engage anyone in hand to hand, and all role players involved with the scenario that are suppsoed to be law enforcement officials wear arm bands taht say role player.

It was clearly established - by the Army - that they did not notify local authorities. In fact, another vehicle with exercise participants was stopped around the same time as the one in question. That officer also did not know of the exercise, and neither did the sherrif. I'm sure all the procedures are in place and followed now that there has been an incident (in 2002 actually). Its a bummer, but as someone said earlier, completely preventable.

Steverino - no intention to offend.

[steveorino 7]

Quote

.

Steverino - no intention to offend.

No biggee. I overeacted.

steveOrino

[JohnnyD 0]

Quote

Quote

.

Steverino - no intention to offend.

No biggee. I overeacted.

I read the court ruling and tried to put myself in the officers shoes and wonder what I would have done differently. Don't know. The court ruled he didn't do anything wrong. Shitty situation all around. One phone call could have changed it all.

[JohnnyD 0]

Quote

I am re reading this pdf file and it looks like the cop is even worse than I thought.

WOW

Yeah, that judge doesn't know shit about the law. Good thing you're on the case now.