CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq (Army News Service, May 12, 2009) -- Five U.S. servicemembers were killed in a shooting at Camp Liberty in Baghdad Monday at about 2 p.m.
A U.S. Soldier suspected of being involved with the shootings is currently in custody.
"Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all," said Col. John Robinson Multi-National Corps-Iraq spokesperson. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy."
The names of the deceased are being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by the Department of Defense.
The incident is under investigation and more information will be released when it becomes available.
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said the Defense Department will devote its "highest-priority attention" to the slayings in Baghdad.
"I would like to express my horror and deep regret over [the] shooting incident at Camp Liberty in Iraq," Gates said at a Pentagon news briefing. "I offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of those who were killed."
"We are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened, but if the preliminary reports are confirmed, such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern, and I can assure you that it will get this department's highest-priority attention," Gates said.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said the incident underscores the need for the U.S. to ramp up efforts to relieve stress related to combat.
"It does speak to me about the need for us to redouble our efforts ... in terms of dealing with the stress, dealing with the whole issue of those kinds of things. And it also speaks to the issue of multiple deployments, increasing dwell time, all those things that we're focused on to try to...relieve that stress."
(Information provided from an MNF-I news release and American Forces Press Service report.)
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