Accused Sniper Treated For Mental Problems
The Army sergeant accused of firing into a field full of 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers exercising at Fort Bragg, N.C., had experienced psychiatric problems in the past, military and government sources said Saturday.
Army Sgt. William J. Kreutzer, 26, who is from Clinton, Md., had become hostile recently and had been previously seen by military psychiatrists, according to sources.
Army officials at Fort Bragg, citing regulations, released no details Saturday that cast light on possible motives or background. Kreutzer has not been charged, but Army rules allow suspects to be detained for some time before being formally accused of a crime.
Acquaintances in the Maryland area described his family as “close-knit” and said Kreutzer was extremely close to his father. He is the eldest son of three children.
Kreutzer’s father is a retired Prince George’s County, Md., police officer, Sgt. William J. Kreutzer, who was accused earlier this year of the 1982 rape of a female teenage police Explorer Scout.
The younger Kreutzer was a National Honor Society student. One of his former teachers at Surrattsville High School, who did not wish to be named, described him as “a wonderful, young, top student.”
Saturday, a number of Army soldiers who had served with him described him as “a loner” and “someone who kept to himself.”
On Friday, Army officials say, Kreutzer opened fire on a field full of colleagues from the elite 82nd Airborne Division of paratroopers who were beginning their daily dawn exercise routine.
Firing from a wooded area perched above the Towle Stadium athletic field, the gunman killed one soldier, Maj. Stephen M. Badger, an intelligence officer, and wounded 18 others. One of them is listed in serious condition. All the rest were in good shape Saturday, Army officials said.
Kreutzer was disarmed and captured moments after the attack by Army Special Forces troopers exercising nearby.
“My heart goes out to the person because he was obviously distraught,” said Diane Badger, the victim’s wife. “What drives a man to do that, to turn on his fellow man? I don’t know. … I can only have compassion for him and hope he gets the help he needs.”