Kentucky soldier faces charge in Iraq

[ridgerunner]

SERGEANT ACCUSED AFTER CAPTURED INSURGENT WAS SHOT

By Steve Ivey
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

After Sgt. Ricky Burke's Kentucky National Guard unit came under attack March 20 south of Baghdad, commanders hailed the soldiers' bravery.

The unit killed 27 Iraqi insurgents during a 45-minute firefight and confiscated a weapons stockpile.

But the Monticello soldier's mother says her son is facing prison time on a charge of premeditated attempted murder after he shot and wounded a captured insurgent that day.

Sandy Burke said her son told her he shot the prisoner who was reaching for a stockpile of weapons. But she said members from Richmond's 617th Military Police Company told superiors the prisoner was too far away from the weapons to be dangerous, and Burke was charged.

more: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/12374039.htm