Carson soldier alleges shooting at Iraqi civilians

A Fort Carson soldier told Army investigators he and another soldier routinely shot at Iraqi civilians while on patrol in Baghdad, according to court records filed in a Colorado Springs homicide case.

Pfc. Bruce Bastien Jr. who faces a first-degree murder charge in the December shooting death of Spc. Kevin Shields, told a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division “about potential crimes which occurred in Iraq during these soldiers’ deployment there.”

Fort Carson officials referred calls about the investigation to the Army Criminal Investigation Division headquarters in Virginia. Calls to that office were not returned.

Shields was found dead early Dec. 1 on the sidewalk in the 200 block of South 16th Street near Old Colorado City.

Also charged in the Shields homicide are former soldiers Louis Edward Bressler, 24, of Charlotte, N.C., and Kenneth Eastridge, 24.

Bressler and Bastien also are suspects in the Aug. 4 shooting death of Pfc. Robert James, whose bullet-riddled body was found in a car in a Lake Avenue parking lot.

Colorado Springs police suspect the trio in other “shootings and a stabbing and aggravated robbery,” according to court documents.

Deputy 4th Judicial District Attorney Robin Chittum filed a motion in Bressler’s case Tuesday to join all the cases together under the same judge.

“These are not two separate homicide cases,” the motion states. “The evidence, witnesses, statements, and investigations are so interrelated that they cannot be separated.”

After Bastien was arrested in the Shields investigation, he talked to Fort Carson CID Agent Kelly Jameson.

“Bastien told S.A. Jameson that he was often on patrol with Kenny Eastridge while stationed in Baghdad. Patrol consisted of a caravan of military vehicles moving through the neighborhood he was stationed in. Mr. Bastien said while he drove, Mr. Eastridge would shoot at Iraqi civilians who happened to be along the street.

“Bastien said that he knows that an Iraqi civilian was struck on at least one occasion,” according to the motion.

The soldiers used stolen AK-47 military rifles when shooting at civilians, Bastien told Jameson.

“The sound of an AK-47 is very distinctive,” the motion states. “So if there were any questions when the shooting was heard, Bastien said they could claim they were taking on hostile fire.”

Fort Carson records show that Shields, Bressler, Eastridge and Bastien served together in Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. All four came home this spring and summer, months earlier than other soldiers in the unit.

The arrest affidavit in the Shields killing was unsealed Tuesday.

Shields, an Illinois native, was killed on the night he was celebrating his 24th birthday. He was shot three times, in the neck, face and groin, according to the affidavit. He still had his identification and money in a jacket pocket.

Bastien at first lied to police about not knowing what happened to Shields, whom he said they were drinking with at Rum Bay nightclub downtown.

But when investigators confronted him with information they had verified by looking at Shields’ cell phone records, Bastien admitted seeing Bressler and Shields getting into a fight that night.

Shields had found out that the suspects traveled around Colorado Springs with duffel bag with a Tarus .38 caliber revolver — purchased by Bressler’s wife Tira — “3 Gerber brand knives, 3 small flashlights, three neck gators, and two pairs of black gloves which Louis and Kenny were going to use for robberies,” the affidavit states.

Tira Bressler said after the shooting her husband was being “setup” and that he was “wrongfully accused.”

“I talked to my husband today (Dec. 6). He said ‘Why would I harm a good friend from Iraq,’” Tira Bressler told a Gazette reporter.

The men burned their clothes and tossed the revolver off a bridge south of Fillmore Street off I-25. Police later recovered the weapon, according to the affidavit.

Chittum’s motion also contained details about the James homicide.

James begged for his life before being shot and robbed, Bastien told police.

After they drove him to the Bank of Broadmoor parking lot, they demanded he give them all his money.

“Robert James then gave him cash from his pockets and asked them not to hurt him,” the affidavit states. “Bastien saw Bressler shoot Robert James. The first shot brought Mr. James to his knees, then other shots followed.”

The men got $45 from James and used it to buy marijuana “which they smoked later that morning,” the affidavit states.

The men are due back in court Jan. 25. All three are being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center without bond.