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3rd ID soldier accused of shooting, killing 2 others
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Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan - photo by Photo provided.
Two Fort Stewart soldiers died from gunshot wounds Friday in a non-combat incident while deployed in support of Operation New Dawn. A fellow soldier is being held in connection to the fatal shootings, and in the wounding of another soldier.
Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, Calif., and Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Conn., were fatally shot following a “verbal altercation” on Sept. 23 in Fallujah, Iraq, said U.S. military spokesman Col. Barry Johnson in an Associated Press story. The military has not released the name of a third solider who was injured in the incident.
Spc. Neftaly Platero of Houston, Texas, is suspected of shooting his fellow soldiers, Johnson said.
Carrillo and Noonan were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. The 4th brigade deployed to Iraq in July.
“Both came to Fort Stewart in May 2010, and it was their first deployment,” said Fort Stewart spokesperson Kevin Larson.
The installation’s public affairs office referred all inquiries about Noonan and Carrillo’s deaths to U.S. Forces-Iraq, based in Baghdad.
Noonan was a graduate of Watertown High School, reported the Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn. His former track coach, Dean Street, told AP “Noonan was always happy and had a smile that was contagious” and was “outspoken about his love for his country.”
Carrillo’s mother, Desiree Carrillo, told CNN her son was a good son and a good father.
“He joined the Army to better his family,” Desiree Carrillo said. “He was a young father, and he wanted to support his kids.”
The Carrillo family also told CNN the military notified them of their son’s death last Friday but did not say he might have been killed by another soldier. The Carrillos heard those reports after being contacted by local media and conducting an Internet search, CNN reported.
“It was very devastating. To find out he was shot by a fellow (soldier) is unbelievable,” Desiree Carrillo told CNN affiliate KCRA. “The military should be embarrassed.”
The shooting remains under investigation.
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