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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Army says friendly fire may have killed two

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

WASHINGTON – A week after acknowledging a litany of errors in the friendly fire death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, the Army said Wednesday two soldiers killed in Iraq in February may also have been killed by their own comrades.

The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., who were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq, on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers were initially told they were killed by enemy fire.

According to Army Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not at first suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit concluded that may be the case.

A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that the initial reports might have been wrong but that an investigation was still under way, he said. According to the Army, the unit did not include friendly fire in that report “because they were reluctant to make the claim until the unit-level investigation was complete.”

It took another month before the families of the two soldiers were told, on March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.

Rose Doyle, McPeek’s mother, declined to discuss the latest development. “I don’t feel comfortable talking,” she said. “Whatever I say isn’t going to bring my son back.”

Wednesday’s disclosure comes on the heels of the announcement on March 26 that nine high-ranking Army officers, including four generals, made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Tillman, an Army Ranger, in Afghanistan. The military found no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former Arizona Cardinals defensive back.

According to published reports at the time of the incident, McPeek, Zeimer and other soldiers came under attack by insurgents at their outpost. A report in the Army Times newspaper said the two soldiers ran to a roof to fight back, but a shot was fired through a concrete wall near them and the impact killed them.