http://www.wftv.com/news/9677771/detail.htmlMan Blames War In Iraq For Machine Gun RampagePOSTED: 5:23 pm EDT August 14, 2006
PALM BAY, Fla. -- A Palm Bay man is blaming the war in Iraq for his machine-gun rampage.
Deputies stopped 63-year-old Jerry Bonner before anyone could get hurt Sunday. He was arrested after his AK-47 assault rifle jammed, but not before he'd hit a patrol car.
Police said Bonner was upset that his son, a civilian contractor, was being sent to Iraq.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/BREAKINGNEWS/60814013/1086Police: Iraq prompted Palm Bay gunfire
Detectives say stress about son being sent to war zone sparked shooting spreePalm Bay police said it started with an anti-Islamic message that Jerry O'Neal Bonner scrawled with soap on the back of his wife's car in reaction to his son -- a civilian contractor -- being sent to Iraq. snip
Today, the former U.S. Air Force serviceman, who investigators said was armed with two assault rifles, is charged with three counts of attempted murder. Police said he fired off several rounds at police officers and his wife during a two-hour standoff Sunday in a northwest Palm Bay neighborhood.
No one was hurt in the exchange of gunfire that pocked a patrol car with bullet holes and frightened nearby neighbors. snip
"He had written something with soap on the back of her car to the effect of "down with Islam" or "Muslims must die" and his wife disagreed with the message. There are no ties with this case to Islam. One story we're looking at is that his son is a contractor who was recently told he had to go to Iraq," Suelter said.