Chris Kyle, Author of "American Sniper", Shot Dead at Texas Firing Range

‘American Sniper’ author Chris Kyle shot dead at Texas gun range; ex-Navy SEAL was 38
By Jessica Chasmar

Photo by: Paul Moseley

Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL who wrote the book “American Sniper,” poses in Midlothian, Texas, on Friday, April 6, 2012. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)

A 25-year-old man was charged Sunday in the deadly shooting of Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL who was the author of “American Sniper,” and another man at a Texas firing range.

Sgt. Lonny Haschel said in a news release that deputies responded to a shooting at the Rough Creek Lodge outside Glen Rose, Texas, about 50 miles from Fort Worth, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Police found the bodies of Mr. Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range, the Associated Press reports.

Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster, Texas, was arraigned on two counts of capital murder. The motive for the shooting was unclear.


Mr. Kyle wrote the best-selling book “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History.” A news release from Travis Cox, director of FITCO Cares, a nonprofit Mr. Kyle helped start, said Mr. Kyle served four tours of duty, the AP reports.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/3/american-sniper-author-chris-kyle-shot-dead-texas-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS#ixzz2Jrl2Pt5q
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‘American Sniper’ Author Shot to Death in Texas

By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

Published: February 3, 2013

Since retiring from the Navy SEALs, Chris Kyle, who was known as America’s deadliest sniper, would occasionally take fellow veterans shooting as a kind of therapy to salve battlefield scars.

Mr. Kyle, author of the best selling book “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History,” was with a struggling former soldier on just such an outing on Saturday, hoping that a day at a shooting range would bring some relief, said a friend, Travis Cox.

But the Texas authorities said Sunday that for unknown reasons, the man turned on Mr. Kyle and a second man, Chad Littlefield, shooting and killing both before fleeing in a pickup truck.  

“Chad and Chris had taken a veteran out to shoot to try to help him,” Mr. Cox said. “And they were killed.”

The police identified the gunman as Eddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old veteran with a history of mental illness who had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The police offered no information about a possible motive.

Mr. Routh shot the men at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Rough Creek Lodge, an exclusive shooting range near Glen Rose, Tex., about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Sgt. Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the State Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol Division, said in a statement. Mr. Routh was arrested on Saturday night at his home in Lancaster, a suburb south of Dallas. He has been charged with two counts of capital murder, Mr. Haschel said.

Mr. Cox, the director of a foundation that Mr. Kyle created, said he was not acquainted with Mr. Routh, but said that Mr. Kyle had devoted his life since his retirement from the military to helping fellow soldiers overcome post-traumatic stress.

In 2011, Mr. Kyle created the FITCO Cares Foundation to provide veterans with exercise equipment and counseling. He believed that exercise and the camaraderie of fellow veterans could help former soldiers ease into civilian life. “He served this country with extreme honor, but came home and was a servant leader in helping his brothers and sisters dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Mr. Cox, also a former military sniper, said by telephone.

Mr. Kyle, who lived outside of Dallas, had his own difficulties adjusting after retiring from the SEALs in 2009. He was deployed in Iraq during the worst years of the insurgency, perched in or on top of bombed-out apartment buildings with his .300 Winchester Magnum.

He became proficient at his job, racking up more than 150 kills and becoming a scourge of Iraqi insurgents, who put a price on his head and who were said to have nicknamed him the “Devil of Ramadi.”

He preferred to think of his job not as killing bad guys, but saving the good.

“I feel pretty good because I am not just killing someone, I am also saving people,” he said in a January 2012 interview with The Dallas Morning News. “What keeps me up at night is not the people that I have killed. It is the people I wasn’t able to save.”

Manny Fernandez contributed reporting.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/us/chris-kyle-american-sniper-author-reported-killed.html?_r=0

Flu Epidemic

Flu Epidemic.  Shortage On Vaccine.  Shortage On Tamiflu. 01/12/2013 0 Comments Flu Epidemic: Hospitals Crack Down On Workers Who Refuse Shots CHICAGO — Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing theirjobs over their refusal. "Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago who was fired last month after she refused a flu shot. Hospitals' get-tougher measures coincide with an earlier-than-usual flu season hitting harder than in recent mild seasons. Flu is widespread in most states, and at least 20 children have died. Most doctors and nurses do get flu shots. But in the past two months, at least 15 nurses and other hospital staffers in fourstates have been fired for refusing, and several others have resigned, according to affected workers, hospital authorities and published reports. read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/12/flu-vaccine-nurses_n_2464663.html Flu Epidemic: Officials, Drug Stores Say Call Ahead Before Getting Vaccine The heightened demand for the flu vaccine has caused some providers to run out of doses, however officials said there are still plenty to go around and are encouraging people to call ahead before driving to a local clinic to get immunized. National drug store chain Rite Aid is moving some of its supplies around to make sure each of their locations remain stocked, spokeswoman Ashley Flower said. "In select areas, just like everybody else, we are experiencing a reduced amount of shots," Flower told ABC News Radio. "We would certainly advise our customers to call their local Rite Aid before coming in to see what the status of the vaccine is at their location." read more at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/flu-epidemic-officials-drug-stores-call-ahead-vaccine/story?id=18198019 Flu Widespread Flu widespread in 47 of 50 United States, but eases off in some areasThe flu is rapidly spreading across the nation, widespread in all but three states: California, Mississippi and Hawaii. But there's a tiny bit of good news — it's backing off a bit. It may have already peaked in some parts, like the Southern states. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/flu-spreads-u-s-eases-areas-article-1.1238794#ixzz2Hp4yBwnD

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I'll believe it when it is confirmed but...

Oil tumbles on rumors Gaddafi shot: traders

NEW YORK | Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:53pm EST

(Reuters) - Traders said oil prices fell by more than $2 a barrel in late Thursday activity on rumors Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had been shot.

There was no immediate indication of where the rumor had originated or any news report to substantiate it.

Traders also cited earlier reports that Saudi Arabia was in talks with European refiners to make up for the loss of Libyan crude and rumors of a possible release of U.S. emergency oil stockpiles as weighing on oil prices.

(Reporting by New York Energy Desk)