© The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley/ Associated Press In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book American Sniper poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.
Stephenville, Texas - A 25-year-old Iraq war veteran charged with murdering former Navy SEAL and
American Sniper author Chris Kyle and his friend turned a gun onto the pair while they were at a Texas shooting range, authorities said Sunday.
Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned early Sunday in the deaths of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at a shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. He was being held on one charge of capital murder and two charges of murder.
Capt. Jason Upshaw with the Erath County Sheriff's Office said Routh used a semi-automatic handgun, which authorities later found at his home. Upshaw said ballistics tests weren't complete Sunday, but authorities believe it was the gun used in the shootings. Upshaw declined to give any more details about the gun.
Routh has not made any comments indicating what his motive may have been, Upshaw said.
Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Routh was unemployed and "may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself.""I don't know that we'll ever know. He's the only one that knows that," Upshaw said.
Bryant didn't know if Routh was on any medication or whether he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The U.S. military confirmed Sunday that Routh was a corporal in the Marines, serving in active duty from 2006 to 2010. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and Haiti in 2010. His current duty status is listed as reserve.
Routh is being held on $3 million bond. Authorities did not know whether Routh had a lawyer yet.
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