# Chris Kyle, author of the book "American Sniper," fatally shot on shooting range **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238 "2013-02-03T18:13:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/1 "2013-02-03T18:13:15Z")
[Story here](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/american-sniper-author-chris-kyle-fatally-shot-article-1.1254181). You cannot make this shit up. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/2 "2013-02-03T20:44:41Z")
The NRA immediately called for armed guards at all gun ranges. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/3 "2013-02-03T20:52:55Z")
Read the link – I was expecting a shooting range accident, but it was a veteran with PTSD that they were trying to help out by taking him shooting. Heart-breaking. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/4 "2013-02-03T22:20:34Z")
fuck fuck fuck ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/5 "2013-02-03T22:41:30Z")
I admit to having been guilty of the same kind of conclusion-jumping that the OP may have done; the [article](http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Iraq-vet-charged-in-fatal-shooting-of-ex-SEAL-4246712.php) that I read was sufficiently poorly written that I had to read the whole thing through before I got to the part that **digs** referred to. This information should have been in the first paragraph, unless the article was framed in such a way as to inflame the casual anti-gun nut. Oh, in the OP’s cite, it was in the first paragraph. Huh. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/6 "2013-02-03T22:50:12Z")
Maybe I missed the conclusion jumping in the OP. All I see is a post that says Chris Kyle, author of “American Sniper,” was shot fatally at a shooting range. Which he was. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/7 "2013-02-03T22:51:49Z")
I’m assuming all these people had their guns legally, right? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/8 "2013-02-03T22:54:39Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Maybe I missed the conclusion jumping in the OP. All I see is a post that says Chris Kyle, author of “American Sniper,” was shot fatally at a shooting range. Which he was. Yeah, I was wondering too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/9 "2013-02-03T22:57:20Z")
CNN has been reporting that Kyle was trying to befriend and help Routh, a fellow vet with PTSD. Why Routh turned on Kyle is a mystery. I’ve gone with friends to the range and hunting hundreds of times. There’s a lot of trust. You’re standing right there next to someone with a loaded weapon. It’s all about respect and gun safety. This guy must have flipped and totally taken Kyle by surprise. A damn shame. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/10 "2013-02-04T02:50:57Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Read the link – I was expecting a shooting range accident, but it was a veteran with PTSD that they were trying to help out by taking him shooting. Heart-breaking. Hmmm… isn’t that a bit like jumping in a pool with a traumatized near-drowning victim? As in he may react badly to the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/11 "2013-02-04T02:58:00Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Hmmm… isn’t that a bit like jumping in a pool with a traumatized near-drowning victim? As in he may react badly to the experience. Yep - I’m not getting how taking someone with PTSD from a war zone, to a shooting range, is going to soothe him. Wouldn’t the sight sound and smell of guns going off be more likely to trigger bad memories? ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/12 "2013-02-04T04:22:22Z")
When you’re a hammer… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/13 "2013-02-04T06:23:11Z")
Didn’t read the linked article, but I saw an article earlier today. Don’t know if it was the same, but it was poorly written. It seemed to say that he shot and killed two people, but he is being charged with 3 counts of murder. WTF 😕 In the reader comments area, several others wondered the same thing. They just aren’t making journalists like they used to. ETA: Okay, I’ll go take a peek at the OP’s link now. ETA2: Nope, not same article. [Here](http://news.yahoo.com/former-marine-charged-murder-american-sniper-052020338--abc-news-topstories.html) is the one I saw. Very first paragraph says he killed two people and is being charged with 3 counts of murder. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/14 "2013-02-04T06:41:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > ETA2: Nope, not same article. Here is the one I saw. Very first paragraph says he killed two people and is being charged with 3 counts of murder. The articles correct. Read further, its two counts of murder, and one of capital murder. Murder in Texas doesn’t carry the death penalty, you have to commit a crime which falls under the definition of “capital murder” which only counts certain particularly heinous murders (including killing more then one person in one incident, which I assume is what this falls under). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/15 "2013-02-04T08:04:08Z")
Awful news. Condolences to his family and friends. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/16 "2013-02-04T08:12:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Yep - I’m not getting how taking someone with PTSD from a war zone, to a shooting range, is going to soothe him. Wouldn’t the sight sound and smell of guns going off be more likely to trigger bad memories? Yeah, my first thought upon reading that, too. It seems like a rather insensitive way of “cheering” the guy up. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/17 "2013-02-04T08:28:26Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Yeah, my first thought upon reading that, too. It seems like a rather insensitive way of “cheering” the guy up. As a combat vet I can tell you it does not strike me as odd at all. Certainly not insensitive. With the acknowledgement that it wouldn’t work for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/18 "2013-02-04T15:12:57Z")
I apologize for the thread de-rail… but you wrote: > [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve gone with friends to the range and hunting hundreds of times. **There’s a lot of trust. You’re standing right there next to someone with a loaded weapon.** It’s all about respect and gun safety. > > This guy must have flipped and totally taken Kyle by surprise. A damn shame. How can gun enthusiasts reconcile this sort of statement with the belief that people should be comfortable with complete strangers who take an AR15 to the grocery store? I’m sorry that the men were killed, but this would almost seem like a text book case of innocent by reason of mental defect. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/19 "2013-02-04T15:21:10Z")
If only someone around him had a gun, they could have stopped this. Sucks that he got killed cuz he was trying to help someone. It shouldnt happen that way. I hope they do whatever they have to so that the murderer can’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238/20 "2013-02-04T16:19:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > As a combat vet I can tell you it does not strike me as odd at all. Certainly not insensitive. With the acknowledgement that it wouldn’t work for everybody. **Loach** , could you expand on this to help me understand? It’s totally outside my own personal experience, so I’m curious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-kyle-author-of-the-book-american-sniper-fatally-shot-on-shooting-range/649238.md?page=2)