Psychiatrist from Amarillo killed at Iraq clinic

AMARILLO, Texas — A Texas clinic official says a psychiatrist from Amarillo is among the five people shot to death at a military counseling center in Baghdad.

The executive director of the Texas Panhandle Mental Health and Mental Retardation says the wife of Dr. Matthew Houseal (HOUSE’-eel) told him Tuesday that Houseal was among the dead.

Bud Schertler said Houseal had been at the Panhandle clinic for 12 years. He says Houseal had volunteered to go back to assist in Iraq and was called up for duty. He says Houseal was due to return to the clinic the first part of June.

He says Houseal was married and had six children.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Navy officer who spent his career helping service members deal with stress and a 19-year-old soldier from Maryland were among the five people shot to death at a military counseling clinic in Baghdad, family members and the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., was one of the victims of Monday’s shooting, the Pentagon said. Shawna Machlinski, the mother of Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., said two men from the Army came to her home on the Eastern Shore early Tuesday and said her son was also fatally wounded at the clinic by what they called “friendly fire.”

One other officer and two enlisted soldiers also were among the dead, officials said, but their names have not been released.

Machlinski, who last spoke to her son on Mother’s Day, said he had talked about the alleged shooter, 44-year-old Sgt. John M. Russell. She said he told her Russell was deeply angry at the military after three tours of duty in Iraq.

“He said, ‘Man, this guy’s got issues,’ ” said Machlinski of Federalsburg. She said her son wasn’t more specific about Russell’s problems and that he told her he got along with him.

The case, the deadliest of the war involving soldier-on-soldier violence, has cast a spotlight on combat stress and emotional problems resulting from frequent deployments to battle zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Helping soldiers deal with those problems was Springle’s life’s work, said Bob Goodale, a friend and colleague, and director of behavioral mental health for the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Citizen-Soldier Support Program.

“He regarded it as very important work,” Goodale said. “We all who work in this know that it is difficult. This is an example of how difficult.”

Springle, a clinical social worker, was director of the Camp Lejeune Community Counseling Center and worked closely with Goodale’s program. The two helped present training called, “Painting a Moving Train: Preparing Community Providers to Serve Returning Warriors.”

Machlinski said her son was at the clinic because he was having difficulty readjusting to life in Baghdad after visiting Maryland for most of April, when he seemed angry and distant.

“I think he just had a lot on his mind and had a hard time adjusting to civilian life,” she said.

Machlinski said that while she was angry at Russell, she is angrier at the military for not doing more to intervene and that she could understand the stress Russell must have been under.

“I do have some sympathy and I do know that I can forgive him,” Machlinski said. “I kind of blame the Army for not protecting my son. Someone should have helped this sergeant way before he got this bad.”

Yates was the father of a 1-year-old son, who lives with his mother in Seaford, Del., about 10 miles from Federalsburg, Machlinski said.

A commander since 2002, Springle went by his middle name of “Keith” and had been in the Navy for 21 years. A Navy spokesman said Springle left behind a wife and two children.

Goodale said Springle understood deploying to Iraq was part of his job and planned to keep helping service members with mental problems when he returned. Their presentation outlines potential traumas experienced by service members and the barriers that keep them from being treated.

“He wasn’t talking about getting out,” Goodale said. “This epitomizes how important the work is. We have to find better ways to reduce the stigma. To work on the acceptance of combat stress as a real thing. It has been for centuries, and we must persevere.”

Associated Press Writer Kevin Maurer in Wilmington, N.C., contributed to this report.