Chad Littlefield's Family Defends Fatal Gun Range Outing
The man killed alongside a former Navy SEAL sniper at a Texas shooting range was helping his friend work with a troubled war veteran, and the outing was intended to be a "therapeutic situation," his relatives said Friday following his funeral.
Littlefield's father-in-law, Tom Montgomery, defended the notion of helping troubled war veterans through target practice. He said Kyle regularly took veterans to the shooting range, and that Littlefield often assisted in efforts to help veterans.
"As a gesture of friendship, that's the only way I can describe it, he was asked to help Chris in this endeavor," Montgomery said. "I think this was a form of relaxation, a form of therapy."
Police say the suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, shot Littlefield and Kyle multiple times on Feb. 2 before fleeing. He later told his sister and brother-in-law that the men "were out shooting target practice and he couldn't trust them so he killed them before they could kill him," according to a search warrant. Routh is jailed on $3 million bond.
The men could not have anticipated Routh's actions, Montgomery said, adding that Littlefield enjoyed assisting Kyle with his nonprofit, which provided in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/09/chad-littlefield-american-sniper-killing_n_2652657.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
From the article:
Kyle, 38, established the nonprofit after leaving the Navy in 2009 following four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. His wartime account, "American Sniper," was a best-seller.
I admire the intentions of Misters Kyle and Littlefield, and I respect the sincerity of the feelings Mr. Montgomery has for his son-in-law. I assume Kyle and Littlefield had enough contact with Mr. Routh and understanding of his condition that, right or wrong, they choose to trust him with a firearm.
Obviously someone who is mentally unstable could kill two people by hitting them with 50lb weights, 10lb dumbbells, or an empty weight bar. A bowling ball wielded properly could cause fatal injuries. Baseball bats have been employed as murder weapons. ....
However, when someone's traumatic stress disorder has resulted from situations where death, massive injury, fear, mistrust of other humans, noise, anger, and confusion are ever present stressors, why, why, would you choose a situation that simulates part of that environment as a therapeutic outing???
Perhaps when our wars are fought as weightlifting competitions, bowling tournaments, or baseball games, instead of on fields of armed combat, we will need to avoid other means of recreational therapy. Until then, probably a good idea to think twice about a shooting expedition to help a victim of combat related PTSD and choose another activity.
