Tenn. National Guard recruiter to stand trial in shooting
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee National Guard recruiter is facing trial on charges that he tried to kill four of his superiors in a shooting inside an armory northeast of Memphis.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of Amos Patton, who has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to kill four Guard members inside the armory in Millington on Oct. 24, 2013.
Prosecutors say Patton, a Sgt. 1st Class, pulled a gun from a fanny pack and began shooting after he was told he was being relieved of duty and dismissed from active service for alleged misconduct. Authorities say three guard members suffered minor injuries in the shooting.
Investigators say a fourth soldier fought with Patton and helped subdue him after he fled the armory.
Charges listed in an indictment allege that Patton assaulted a major, a lieutenant colonel and two sergeant majors with intent "to do bodily harm" and commit murder. If convicted, he faces no less than 20 years in prison on the murder-related charges.
During a detention hearing for Patton in January 2014, FBI Special Agent Matthew Ross testified that Patton was being disciplined after an investigation into sexual assault claims by a female soldier.
During the roughly three-month sexual assault investigation, Patton began to confide in Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Turner, Ross said.
Turner told Ross that Patton threatened he "would in fact pull out a gun and shoot everyone that was there" if he was fired, Ross said.
Ross said Patton also told Turner that he was going to kill the woman who made the sexual assault allegations, then commit suicide. Patton never went through with it, he added.
Turner never forwarded the threats to superiors, Ross said.
After Patton received his punishment, he and two superiors went to his government-issued car parked outside the armory. The three were going back to Patton's office in the Memphis suburb of Bartlett to retrieve a computer and take him to his personal vehicle, Ross said.
Patton retrieved a bag and a fanny pack from the car, then asked to go to the bathroom, Ross said. Patton entered the armory but was told that he could not go into the bathroom with the bag and fanny pack.
That's when Patton took the gun out of the fanny pack, Ross said. A Guard member was able to restrain Patton, but Patton was able to fire shots, striking three Guard members, Ross said.
Patton then ran out of the armory but was taken down and later arrested by Millington police. The incident lasted just a few minutes.
The charges specify that the shooting took place at Naval Support Activity Memphis "Northside," a base that is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
The base is home to human resources operations and serves as headquarters to Navy Personnel Command, Navy Recruiting Command, the Navy Manpower Analysis Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Finance Center. The armory is across the street from the main part of the base.