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This December 13, 2019 photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. 1st class Duke Webb who currently serves as a sergeant for special operations and intelligence. Webb, arrested in a seemingly random shooting at a Illinois bowling alley that killed three people and injured three, had four deployments to Afghanistan, most recently in July. Webb was due to appear in court on Monday, December 28, 2020 on three counts of murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder in the shooting at Don Carter Lanes, in Rockford, Illinois, on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of US Army via AP)
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This December 13, 2019 photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. 1st class Duke Webb who currently serves as a sergeant for special operations and intelligence. Webb, arrested in a seemingly random shooting at a Illinois bowling alley that killed three people and injured three, had four deployments to Afghanistan, most recently in July. Webb was due to appear in court on Monday, December 28, 2020 on three counts of murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder in the shooting at Don Carter Lanes, in Rockford, Illinois, on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of US Army via AP)
CHICAGO (AP) – A lawyer for a U.S. Army sergeant arrested in what authorities called a seemingly random shooting at a Illinois bowling alley that killed three people said Monday during a first trial said her client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Duke Webb, 37, is on trial on three charges of murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder for injuring three other people during the shooting in Don Carter Lanes, Rockford, on Saturday night.
According to information about the military service, Webb had four deployments in Afghanistan, the last of which ended in July.
His lawyer, Elizabeth Bucko, also said in a Winnebago County courtroom that Webb had memory loss problems. She added that he would undergo the mental health evaluation, the Rockford Register Star report.
The judge denies bond to Webb, meaning he will remain jailed. His decision was set for February 16.
Webb joined the Army in 2008 and was on leave on Saturday. According to the military, his first deployment to Afghanistan was from August to December 2009. His other deployments were from October 2013 to April 2014, from October 2014 to April 2015 and from January to July of this year.
Webb was arrested shortly after the shooting, Rockford police chief Dan O’Shea said Sunday. The suspect has no known ties to the victims and authorities ‘believe it was a completely arbitrary act,’ O’Shea said.
A criminal charge Released Monday, Webb said he acknowledged the shooting shortly after officers arrived on the scene, and even showed officers where he placed two guns he had brought with him – a Glock .40 caliber and a Glock .389 -caliber.
The complaint describes horrific scenes when the gunman opened fire just before 7pm on Saturday, first targeting a group of teenagers on the first floor of the two-story building.
A bullet tore through the shoulder of a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy was punched in the face. Both survived. Thomas Furseth, 65, was on the first floor and was running towards the bar to the bar on the second floor when the gunman fatally shot him in the upper body. He managed to get to the second floor before collapsing.
The gunman then climbed the stairs himself and shot in a bar area filled with up to 25 people. Dennis Steinhoff, 73, was fatally shot in the upper body. Jerome Woodfork, 69, was also fatally shot and a witness later said they saw him fall from a balcony on the second floor. His body was found under the balcony of a parking lot.
Tyrone Lewis, 62, survived but was listed in critical condition. He was shot while in the thigh, back, neck, groin and buttocks.
Webb has been awarded the Bronze Star twice. Among the other awards he compiled were the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal and the Combat Action Badge, according to the service information.
The military said Webb is a special forces assistant and intelligence sergeant assigned to the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. O’Shea did not explain why he was in Illinois.
The 14-year-old boy who was shot in the face was transported in a stable condition by helicopter to a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, and a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the shoulder was treated in a hospital and released.
Maj. Gen. John Brennan, commander of the First Special Forces Order (Airborne), said in a statement Sunday night that Webb’s alleged actions were ‘shocking’ and ‘completely out of character’ with Webb’s 12 years of honorable service.
Rockford is a city of approximately 170,000 inhabitants approximately 130 miles northwest of Chicago.
The bowling alley was closed when the shooting took place, in line with restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, O’Shea said. But a bar upstairs was open. The principal said the room on the top floor has double doors that open to the outside, ensuring the bar complies with Illinois’ COVID-19 softening guidelines.
Most people at Don Carter Lanes escaped or hid, O’Shea said. The teens who were injured picked up food at the carrying section of the bowling alley, he said.
He said the suspect was apprehended without officers firing a shot.
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Associated Press National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington, DC, and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York also contributed to this report.