Sergeant who survived three tours in Iraq shot dead in Colorado Springs

[SocalDinar]

A bicyclist who begged for his life as a gunman killed him during a rampage on the streets of Colorado Springs was an Army veteran who survived three deployments in Iraq, his former wife said.

Tina Myers on Tuesday recalled her former husband, Andrew Alan Myers, 35, as a decorated military veteran and a caring father to their two young sons. He was the first of three victims: A gunman shot him in broad daylight Saturday and then calmly walked less than a mile to a sober living home where he killed two women on the porch.

The shooter, Noah Harpham, 33, died in a gunbattle with police.

Tina Myers said police told her that the shooting was apparently random and that neither Andrew Myers nor the other two victims knew their killer.

Neighbors watched in horror as the shooter gunned down Myers while he cycled down the quiet street. They said he pleaded with Harpham not to shoot.

"He spent three tours of duty in Iraq and came out of that all right, and then came home only to be shot by someone he didn't even know," said Myers' grandfather, Samuel Myers.

Myers grew up in Thompson, Ohio. He enlisted in the Army in 2003 and served for 10 years. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was awarded two Army Commendation medals and three Good Conduct medals. In addition to three deployments to Iraq, he was stationed in Germany.

At the time of his administrative discharge in June 2013, he was stationed at Fort Carson outside Colorado Springs, assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division.

Tina Myers said she and her husband separated when they returned to the U.S. from Germany and have been divorced for about a year. Their sons, ages 13 and 11, are struggling with his death, she said.

Authorities identified the other victims as Jennifer Michelle Vasquez, 42, and Christina Rose Baccus-Gallela, 34. Baccus-Galella was studying cosmetology and working as a telemarketer as she recovered from an addiction to painkillers, her sister Megan Williams said. Vasquez had two daughters and was "always fun to be around," said Marcie Maes, who was married to Vasquez's cousin.

A motive for the attack remained unknown Tuesday. Harpham gave no indication he was planning violence in a strange video he posted online two days earlier. He instead expressed displeasure with his father, saying he had fallen under the sway of a preacher whose controversial church emphasizes signs of God's miracles and supernatural healing.

Harpham struggled with alcoholism, which his mother, Heather Kopp, chronicled extensively in her book "Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up With a Christian Drunk." But police have not said whether there was any link between his substance abuse problems and the fact that two of his victims were themselves recovering from addiction http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/04/sergeant-who-survived-three-tours-in-iraq-shot-dead-in-colorado-springs/

[okane]

Very sad story.  I was wondering, did not one of the witnesses of the first shooting have a firearm?  That is a shame

[four wheel drift]

So sad my son was was 4th ID.these people that do this are mentally ill and we need to bring back institutions to help these people. Socal I believe you said you were from south bay, do you remember Agnew State Hospital in Santa Clara as kids it scared the hell out of us and as a adult we need these institutions back. I hate to say but I believe it was Regan that cut support for these places. It kills me that politicians created yet another problem that will forever be ignored. The media can't blame guns anymore. I just read 600,000 hunters in Minnesota this deer season, equivalent to the fifth largest army in the world, no body dead. Most all political people are concealed carriers. They want to take our second amendment rights from us and keep their guns. Trump the bass tards.

Rambling.

FWD

GO RV

[TQueezy]

Too sad… 

[DWitte]

Go ahead and ramble 4wheel.  We need more of it.  It shows the rest of the world how we think.

 

BTW, it's not really rambling.  It's just another American expressing their opinion.  I for one enjoy it.

[sandfly]

THANKS DON'T NO WHAT TO SAY ABOUT IT

[WheresmyRV?]

Very sad indeed.

[Nuki]

This makes me angry. I spent seven years in Afghanistan. I've seen the evil men perpetuate against each other. I came home and first thing I did was get my conceal, because evil knows no borders, exists regardless of race, and cares not how many good things someone has done in the past. It strikes most often when we forget about it and grow complacent. It visits whether you are prepared for it or not. 

 

I am often told I am paranoid because I rarely go anywhere that I am not armed. I wonder if those people have ever been face to face with evil. 

 

 

RIP Sgt. Thank you for your service.  

Edited November 5, 2015 by Nuki