Soldier accused of shooting in Rockford may have PTSD

CHICAGO (AP) – A US Army special sergeant attorney who was arrested in a seemingly random shooting at an Illinois bowling alley that killed three people told an initial hearing Monday that her client may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Duke Webb, 37, is facing three murders and three attempted first degree murder for injuring three other people in the shooting of Don Carter Lanes, in Rockford, on Saturday night.

According to military service records, Webb had four deployments to Afghanistan, the most recent of which ended in July.

His attorney, Elizabeth Bucko, also told a Winnebago County court hearing that Webb appeared to have problems with amnesia. She added that he will undergo mental health assessments called the Rockford Register Star reported.

The judge denied the bond for Webb, meaning he will remain in prison. His arraignment was scheduled for February 16.

Webb joined the military in 2008 and was on leave on Saturday. According to the military, his first deployment to Afghanistan was from August to December 2009. His other deployments were from October 2013 to April 2014, October 2014 to April 2015, and January to July this year.

Webb was awarded the Bronze Star twice. The service information included the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.

Webb was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, Rockford police chief Dan O’Shea said on Sunday. The suspect has no known ties to the victims and authorities “believe this was a completely arbitrary act,” O’Shea said.

The military has said Webb is an assistant operations and intelligence sergeant of the special forces assigned to the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. O’Shea did not explain why he was in Illinois.

The three who died were all men aged 73, 65 and 69, but the authorities did not name them. A 14-year-old boy was shot in the face and in stable condition with an airlift to a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, and a 16-year-old girl shot in the shoulder was treated in a hospital and released. A 62-year-old man sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was in critical condition, the chief said.

Major General John Brennan, commander of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), said in a statement Sunday night that Webb’s alleged actions were “shocking” and “completely out of character” with Webb’s 12 years of honorable service.

Rockford is a city of about 170,000 people about 80 miles northwest of Chicago.

The bowling alley was closed when the shooting took place, in accordance with the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, O’Shea said. But a bar was open upstairs. The chief said the upstairs venue has double doors that open outward, ensuring the bar meets Illinois COVID-19 restriction guidelines.

There were up to 25 people on Don Carter Lanes, but most escaped or hid, O’Shea said. He declined to say whether the shootings took place in the bar or elsewhere in the building, saying those details would come out in court. The teens who were injured were picking up food from the takeaway area of ​​the bowling alley, he said.

He said the suspect was arrested without any officers firing a shot.

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Robert Burns, US National Security writer in Washington, DC, and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York also contributed to this report.