Ex-Marine charged with shooting down Sheriff helicopter

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kage genin

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As reported by LATimes.com :rolleyes: Rather short spot with little info. At least they didn't call him a 'sniper'
Link to story
text reproduced here:

IN BRIEF / NEW MEXICO
Ex-Marine Is Charged in Downing of Helicopter
From Times Wire Reports

Authorities in Albuquerque have charged a former Marine marksman with shooting down a sheriff's helicopter, alleging that he bragged to investigators that it would be no problem for him to "make that shot."

Jason Kerns, 29, was being held on a $1.8-million bond and faces charges including assault with intent to commit a violent felony upon an officer.
 
a former Marine marksman
Click to expand...
WOW! A Marine marksman. That's the lowest qualification level, and he shot down a helicopter! Imagine what an "Expert" could have done.

Of course that's assuming the reporter had a clue as to what he was writing about. At least he got the important info out there that another Marine went over the edge. I quess it's irrelevant what he used to shoot it down, how long he served, what his MOS was, what he's done since then, what his motive was, what his mental state is. What's important is that he once was a Marine.

Jump on the dog pile boys, there's some fresh meat in there somewhere.
 
Found a more detailed version of the story:
Yahoo news AP story
Ex-Marksman Charged in Chopper Shootdown

By FELICIA FONSECA, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 16,10:10 PM ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Authorities have charged a former Marine marksman with shooting down a sheriff's helicopter, alleging that he bragged to investigators that it would be no problem for him to "make that shot."
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Jason Kerns, 29, was arrested late Monday in the Aug. 6 shooting, and faces charges including assault with intent to commit a violent felony upon an officer.

Along with the boast about his marksmanship, Kerns told investigators he watched from his neighborhood as the chopper went down, according to sheriff's records released Tuesday. The records, however, contained no admission of responsibility.

Kerns was being held on $1.8 million bond. Police said they did not know whether he had obtained an attorney.

Authorities said they recovered several firearms from the suspect's home, including a rifle they believe was involved in the shooting, along with boxes of ammunition.

Pilot Chris Holland and sheriff's deputy Ward Pfefferle were in the copter when it went down and suffered injuries. Pfefferle reported hearing a gun shot.

Kerns is a former lance corporal honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2001, authorities said. He was a helicopter airframe mechanic who also worked as a marksmanship instructor, according to the sheriff's records.

Kerns told investigators the night the copter went down that he had been watching it hover low above a nearby golf course.

"I hate to say this but I was getting annoyed by the sound of the chopper because it was there so long," Kerns told investigators, according to the records.

He said he watched for a few more minutes then heard a "pop noise" and saw the copter crash.

Investigators questioned several people in the neighborhood and later went to Kerns' residence.

In an Aug. 8 interview, Kerns allegedly told an investigator who remarked that it would be difficult to shoot down a copter from a certain distance that he would be able "'to make that shot' at that distance with 'no problem.'"

Trajectory tests determined a bullet struck the helicopter's left pedal, one of the pedals that controls the craft. Had the bullet not hit the pedal, authorities have said it would have struck the pilot in the chest.

Holland, 43, suffered shrapnel wounds while Pfefferle, 51, suffered minor injuries. They were helping deputies on the ground who were investigating a burglary call when the chopper went down.
 
He's been charged for saying that it would be no problem for him to "make that shot." I guess saying that made him an instant suspect?? :eek:

There isn't anything that can be considered hard evidence in the limited information given in the story
 
Sounds like an Hyd/Metal Shop guy, (Now called Airframes) that got FAP'd out to the range for a while.

Whatever. I loaded ordnance, I am sure if I was in the papers they would say I was an "explosives expert" or some such trash.

I hope he didn't do it, but I doubt he chucked in the slammer for just running his mouth.
 
Details that don't make sense to me;

He was "honorably discharged" in 2001. Probably at best a General discharge under honorable conditions. It would be upgraded to Honorable upon completion of minimum six years total service.

Part time marksmanship instructor? Probably a range coach, not marksmanship instructor. AP mechanics are always in short supply. You wouldn't want to give one up to be a marksmanship instructor.

Marine Marksman? Again innacurate. A marksman being the lowest level of qualification, he would never be considered for any marksmanship instructor or coach position without being an expert.

Minor details I understand but together they point to a story that makes little effort at getting the facts straight. The fact that according the story he was charged for admitting he "could" make the shot adds to the questionable credibility. There's a lot we aren't being told yet. I'd like to see the results of ballistics on the rifle they took as evidence.
 
Marine Marksman? Again innacurate. A marksman being the lowest level of qualification, he would never be considered for any marksmanship instructor or coach position without being an expert.
Click to expand...
Actually my Gunny at 262 was an airframer who shot pizza box his whole career until he got sent to be a PMI. He qualified expert there for the first time in his career.

But details, details. Your basic point stands. Instructors aren't pizza boxes by the time they get to the range.

edit: pizza box is slang for the lowest level of qual for a Marine. That isn't bad shooting, BTW. The Marine still has to keep it about 80% in the black at 200/300/500 yards.

From top to bottom, Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert. Marksman is lowest Expert is highest.

2175500.jpg

2176600.jpg

2177700.jpg


But, as you can see the lowest level decoration isn't as ornate as Sharpshooter or Expert.
 
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If the helicopter was far away, hovering over a golf-course, then simple angles should indicate what's up? If the police are not lieing, then the bullet was travelilng upward at a 45 degree angle, +- 15 degrees, to line up the pedal with the chest.

"watching it hover low above a nearby golf course"

So either the golf-course is very nearby, or the helicopter was not hovering very low, or else there's no way he could have been shooting up at the required 45 degrees.
 
It is also possible that the pedal/chest thing is blather. Much like the state trooper who declares on TV, "If he had been wearing his seatbelt, it would have saved his life." He doesn't necessarily know, but it makes a good soundbite.
 
What range are they talking about anyway?

Cause I can guarantee, drunk or sober, (allowing for freakish effects in the downwash by bullet type of course) I can hit a more-or-less unmoving 48 square foot (6x8) target, prone or rested, slung up, 10 out of 10 times at up to 500m given a halfway decent rifle.

Sober I can of course do much better.

Should I call the Sheriff and implicate myself. :rolleyes:
 
Yeah, carebear, I gotta confess, I don't think the helo was that hard of a target.

I bet the upland guys on this board could hit it a lot easier than I could.

They said this guy was a Helo A/F? Maybe he cut himself on metal routinely, and he was PTSDing from all the rivets he had to pull. :rolleyes:
 
Acutally your quote isn't illustrative of what he thinks, but it's great to illustrate what passes for probable cause now.

Someone in an affable and friendly manner saying the exact same thing that EVERYONE on this board said in the original thread on this topic typed, and he's in jail because of it...

Based solely on the article. So it's a theoretical argument, if the articles are correct, then PC doesn't take much.
 
Anybody in this thread who thinks he's been made aware of the evidence in this case is in dire need of a Harry Potter book! :p
 
On a related note: 35K serving Marines living within 15 miles of my home haven't shot anyone all week and untold thousands of retirees have been fairly quite too. (I know some pretty gentle ex-sargeants with 20-35 years of service that I'd just as soon not try to stir up memories in though.)
 
No hard evidence what so ever...

How long can they legally keep him in there? I seem to remember a little something about it in our little book of amendments, not that that old peice of paper means much on anything nowadays.
 
So, we have a retired Marine living within distance to be annoyed by the helicopter that:
- Had a few firearms in the house
- Had ammo
- And thought making that shot would be easy for him.

Gee, what are the friggen odds? A marine with a gun that says he shoot far away targets! Such a rare creature, that thing.

Meanwhile, we've got a skirmish going on at the border with drug cartels forcing two governors to declare a State of Emergency -- and it hasn't occured to them that MAYBE it was one of the drug smugglers that took down the chopper?

Wow.
 
From what I have heard (right here in Albuquerque), this guy was the first on the scene, made a nuisance of himself, bragging that it wouldn't be a difficult shot. When his home was searched they found a shell casing in his trash and they are testing his weapon to see if it is the weapon involved in the incident. Also, the PD is aware of 4 prior suicide attempts by this guy.

Sounds like he is the kind of loser who makes everyone else look bad.
 
I'm guessing that the police have a good deal more evidence than what they're saying.

Forensics should be able to provide them with at least a rough semicircle based on the height and heading of the chopper when it was shot. Chances are that this guy was living in the given area.

I'm interested in how this case turns out.
 
IT'S A COVERUP!!!!! WHY WAS THE "SHERIFF'S" COPTER HOVERING OVER THE GOLF COURSE SO LONG???? WHAT WERE THEY REALLLY UP TO????

:foaming mouth/tin foil hat:
 
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