UPDATE II:
Spc. Ricky G. Elder, the soldier who fatally shot his superior officer, Lt. Col. Roy L. Tisdale (above), during a safety briefing in Fort Bragg and then turned the gun on himself has died.
Elder deployed to Iraq from October 2006 to November 2007 and to Afghanistan from September 2010 to July 2011, according to the Stars and Stripes.
Tisdale was commander of the 525th Brigade Support Battalion.
He and his wife, Kim, are from the small town of Alvin, Texas, near Houston.
Added: Tisdale was a fellow Aggie, Class of ’93.
Photo: U.S. Army
UPDATE I:
The Army has identified the Fort Bragg battalion commander who was shot and killed Thursday afternoon as Lt. Col. Roy L. Tisdale.
Excerpts from the Stars and Stripes:
Tisdale was killed during a unit safety briefing in a field near the Bastogne Gables neighborhood on Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg officials have not identified the soldier who opened fire during the briefing before turning the weapon on himself.
A third soldier who was wounded has been identified as Spc. Michael E. Latham, Fort Bragg officials said Friday.
The shooter is in critical condition and is in custody, Fort Bragg officials said.
Tisdale and his wife, Kim, are from the small town of Alvin, Texas, near Houston.
According to Fort Bragg, someone reported the shooting to 911 at 3:31 p.m. The first military policeman arrived four minutes later, and medical personnel arrived soon after.
After the shooting, two brigade chaplains began helping those on the scene and, within an hour, more than a dozen chaplains from across Fort Bragg and 10 behavioral health specialists responded and spent more than five hours counseling those affected by the incident.
Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating it.
Read more here
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Original Post:
Fort Bragg N.C. Public Affairs reports that one soldier is dead and two others are wounded following a shooting incident there today.
According to the report:
During a 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade unit safety briefing, a soldier shot another member of the unit and then turned the weapon on himself. The shooter was injured and is in custody. A third soldier who was in the area was also slightly wounded in the shooting.
“This is a tragedy for our community. We don’t yet know the reasons for the shooting, but are working with the unit and the affected Families to help them through this difficult period,” said Col. Kevin Arata, 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg Public Affairs Officer.
“Our prayers are with those who have been affected by this terrible incident,” Arata said.
Fort Bragg law enforcement and emergency responders secured the scene within minutes. Special agents from the Army Criminal Investigation Command are conducting an investigation.
Notification of the next of kin is underway.
The Army Times reports that the man shot dead was a battalion commander at Fort Bragg and that the shooter, a Sergeant , then turned the gun on himself. The injured shooter is now in custody.
The two soldiers were with the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. The shooting occurred during a unit-safety brief near 18th Airborne Corps headquarters around 3:30 p.m.
Read more here
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.