MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) – A US marine guarding the main gate of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina has shot and killed a colleague by discharging an M4 assault rifle, the Daily News website reported Wednesday.
A spokesman for the base located in Jacksonville said the shooting occurred at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday. Emergency responders attempted to revive the marine at the scene, but he was later pronounced dead at a base hospital. The incident is currently under investigation on whether the shooting was intentional. The name of the shooter and the victim have not been released.
The shooting came less than a week after a soldier opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Four people died and 16 were injured in that shooting, before the gunman committed suicide. All the victims were servicemen. According to Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the commander of Fort Hood, the shooter in that case was a soldier who served in Iraq in 2011 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as “Iraq syndrome.”
PTSD develops after a terrifying experience involving physical harm or the threat of bodily harm. It is common among returning US soldiers as they fail to re-adjust to the civilian life.
US military facilities have suffered a string of such incidents, often caused by the psychological effects on soldiers of America’s overseas military campaigns.
