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CNN Live At Daybreak
Second Officer in 101st Grenade Attack Dies
Aired March 26, 2003 - 06:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: You might remember early on Sunday when the devastating news rippled through the 101st Airborne Division one of its own dropping three grenades and opening fire on his fellow unit mates at Camp Pennsylvania. The man's name is Sergeant Asan Akbar. He is the suspect in this case.
We now know the second fatality as the result of this attack, Major Gregory Stone, age 40, Air National Guard out of Boise, Idaho, has died now of his injuries.
At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, David Jolley is a freelance journalist. He joins us now by way of telephone. And we know Sergeant Akbar is now in military confinement back in Germany, and I want to talk to David right now about what can be expected right now in terms of charges, etcetera.
What are you hearing about that -- David?
DAVID JOLLEY, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Well, Bill, as you say, I can now tell you that the suspect is in Germany. He's being held at the confinement center in Mannheim. A military magistrate has determined that there is probable cause for Akbar to be tried, but charges haven't been laid against him. He's being held under what the Army is currently calling pretrial confinement.
Now, it's not clear at the moment whether he'll be tried here in Germany or whether he'll be transferred to the USA. His unit is based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and as I understand from military officials here, they'll have the last word as to whether he'll be tried in Germany or transferred to the USA -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, still trying to track down a motive on this. What's the word there in Germany? Anything?
JOLLEY: Absolutely nothing. I'm not hearing anything on this end. They're just dealing with the processing basically here in Germany.
The confinement center at Mannheim is the largest one here in Europe, so it's not surprising that Sergeant Akbar is passing through here. It's not significant. It doesn't mean that he's actually going to be court-martialed here in Germany. Basically anybody accused of a military crime in the Europe area is likely to pass through here.
So basically, to answer your question, there is no motive that they're talking about here. They're just basically dealing with the processing of the soldier -- Bill. HEMMER: All right, David, and another thing here, any reaction to the latest fatality, Major Gregory Stone out of Boise, dying of his injuries?
JOLLEY: Well, no. I can confirm that he didn't pass away here in Germany. It was suspected initially when we heard the news that he might be one of the three soldiers from the 101st Airborne that were transferred yesterday morning to Ramstein Air Base and then on to Landstuhl Hospital here in southwest Germany.
But I've been in touch with Landstuhl Hospital, and they confirmed that he wasn't amongst those three transferred, and that as far as they're concerned, he must have passed away in Kuwait where the incident happened. But I cannot confirm that 100 percent.
HEMMER: David, thanks -- David Jolley, freelance journalist working the story that at Ramstein Air Base.
Again, Sergeant Asan Akbar now transported to Germany waiting formal charges, and we'll see where that case proceeds from here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 26, 2003 - 06:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: You might remember early on Sunday when the devastating news rippled through the 101st Airborne Division one of its own dropping three grenades and opening fire on his fellow unit mates at Camp Pennsylvania. The man's name is Sergeant Asan Akbar. He is the suspect in this case.
We now know the second fatality as the result of this attack, Major Gregory Stone, age 40, Air National Guard out of Boise, Idaho, has died now of his injuries.
At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, David Jolley is a freelance journalist. He joins us now by way of telephone. And we know Sergeant Akbar is now in military confinement back in Germany, and I want to talk to David right now about what can be expected right now in terms of charges, etcetera.
What are you hearing about that -- David?
DAVID JOLLEY, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Well, Bill, as you say, I can now tell you that the suspect is in Germany. He's being held at the confinement center in Mannheim. A military magistrate has determined that there is probable cause for Akbar to be tried, but charges haven't been laid against him. He's being held under what the Army is currently calling pretrial confinement.
Now, it's not clear at the moment whether he'll be tried here in Germany or whether he'll be transferred to the USA. His unit is based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and as I understand from military officials here, they'll have the last word as to whether he'll be tried in Germany or transferred to the USA -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, still trying to track down a motive on this. What's the word there in Germany? Anything?
JOLLEY: Absolutely nothing. I'm not hearing anything on this end. They're just dealing with the processing basically here in Germany.
The confinement center at Mannheim is the largest one here in Europe, so it's not surprising that Sergeant Akbar is passing through here. It's not significant. It doesn't mean that he's actually going to be court-martialed here in Germany. Basically anybody accused of a military crime in the Europe area is likely to pass through here.
So basically, to answer your question, there is no motive that they're talking about here. They're just basically dealing with the processing of the soldier -- Bill. HEMMER: All right, David, and another thing here, any reaction to the latest fatality, Major Gregory Stone out of Boise, dying of his injuries?
JOLLEY: Well, no. I can confirm that he didn't pass away here in Germany. It was suspected initially when we heard the news that he might be one of the three soldiers from the 101st Airborne that were transferred yesterday morning to Ramstein Air Base and then on to Landstuhl Hospital here in southwest Germany.
But I've been in touch with Landstuhl Hospital, and they confirmed that he wasn't amongst those three transferred, and that as far as they're concerned, he must have passed away in Kuwait where the incident happened. But I cannot confirm that 100 percent.
HEMMER: David, thanks -- David Jolley, freelance journalist working the story that at Ramstein Air Base.
Again, Sergeant Asan Akbar now transported to Germany waiting formal charges, and we'll see where that case proceeds from here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
