Army: Deserter hurt in nightclub shooting

Army: Deserter hurt in nightclub shooting
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 12:57:34 EST

BUFFALO, N.Y. — One of the four people wounded by gunfire outside a Buffalo nightclub was an Army deserter from Fort Drum, a post spokesman said Tuesday.

Army officials issued an arrest warrant for Sgt. Charles Holmes in June after he was AWOL for more than 30 days, said Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel. Holmes, 26, was a member of the 10th Mountain Division Aviation Brigade who served two tours of duty in Iraq. His case has been turned over to Army prosecutors at Fort Knox who handle desertion cases, Abel said.

Additionally, Holmes was scheduled to be sentenced in Watertown on Monday for a cocaine conviction, according to his lawyer, John Hallett.

Holmes, who lives in Watertown with his wife and two children, was in Buffalo when he and three other people were wounded early Sunday morning by two men who opened fire on a crowded parking lot as bars and nightclubs in Buffalo’s theater district were closing about 4 a.m.

“Our investigators are looking at the possibility there may have been some type of argument or dispute” that started in a bar and continued into the parking lot, Buffalo police spokesman Mike DeGeorge told the Watertown Daily Times.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_deserter_081115/