Arrest made in alleged murder of female soldier on Army base
U.S. Army Fort Leonard Wood/Facebook
(WASHINGTON) — An Army specialist has been charged with the murder of a fellow soldier whose body was found on an Army base last week.
Spc. Wooster Rancy, 21, is accused in the murder of Sarah Roque, a 23-year-old sergeant, officials said Thursday.
Last week, Roque was found dead in a dumpster at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
Rancy also faces obstruction of justice charges, officials said. He is currently in pretrial confinement ahead of a preliminary hearing.
A combat engineer, Rancy is originally from Miami and joined the Army in 2022, officials said.
It is not yet clear what led to Rancy’s arrest or the motive in the killing.
Roque, of Ligonier, Indiana, was reported missing after she failed to report for duty last week.
In a press conference after her body was found, Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck said her death was being investigated as a homicide.
“As a commander and a leader, this is a tragedy,” Beck said. “This is something that we never want to happen, we never want for the family to have to endure, or for the unit to have to endure.”
Roque served as a mine dog handler, officials said. Since she enlisted in 2020, she was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
“Sarah not only served our country bravely and honorably as a soldier, she was also a daughter, a sister and a friend to many,” Beck said.
Teen believed to be armed stopped from entering Wisconsin elementary school. Via Kenosha Police Department
(KENOSHA, Wis.) — Authorities in Wisconsin say an armed 13-year-old carrying a backpack and duffel bag was stopped from entering an elementary school Thursday morning after being confronted by school staff and taken into custody several hours later.
“We narrowly missed a tragedy,” Kenosha Police Chief Patrick D. Patton told reporters Thursday.
The 13-year-old, who previously attended Roosevelt Elementary School, attempted to enter the building at about 9 a.m. local time, Patton said.
The suspect tried to enter through other doors to the school building, but was not able to get in, Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told reporters at a news conference. He then approached the front entrance and was buzzed into a vestibule area. Two school employees confronted the student, who got nervous and then fled, Weiss said.
“I can’t stress … really how heroic our office staff was,” Weiss said, adding “They helped avert a disaster.”
Police later identified the teen suspect, thanks to tips from the community.
“We can confirm that this was not just a suspicious individual, we believe that this was actually an armed suspect with a firearm and there was no legitimate reason to enter the school,” Patton said at a later news conference.
Police took the suspect into custody shortly after 2 p.m. local time. During the earlier news conference, police played a video they said depicted the suspect with a firearm and said the suspect looked up school shootings online and made comments to fellow students for weeks leading up to the incident.
Kenosha is located about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Image
(LAS VEGAS) — Six years before packing a rental truck with firework mortars and gas cannisters before shooting himself in the head — an act he called a “wake-up” call to America in a note later found by law enforcement — Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger told an ex-girlfriend he was spiraling.
“Sometimes, I get so hopeless and depressed, it’s [expletive] ridiculous,” he texted, at one point describing a close-range firefight in which he killed two men.
“By far the worst of my life,” he wrote in 2018.
The violent death of Livelsberger, a 37-year-old decorated war veteran and Green Beret, on New Year’s Day is reviving questions about the unique risks that military personnel, and in particular special operations forces, face in their jobs and whether enough is being done to identify members in crisis.
Experts say the military has dramatically ramped up access to mental health support in recent years but that special operations forces in particular still remain vulnerable, in part out of fear that if they seek help their careers will be sidelined.
SOF personnel are more frequently exposed to the kinds of severe mental trauma that can trigger post-traumatic stress syndrome, as well as repeated concussive blasts from high-powered weapons that military officials suspect cause scarring and other physical changes to the brain.
Acute stress and relationship problems also can play a role in a person’s deteriorating mental state. In a 2020 study sponsored by U.S. Special Operations Command that examined the suicide deaths of 29 special operations personnel, nearly all of them experienced emotional trauma in their first deployments. But other issues factored in as well, the study found.
“The downhill trajectory with compounding relationship issues, financial issues and legal issues occurs over many years,” the report found, noting the “large number of variables” typically involved.
In the case of Livelsberger, the Army will soon have to decide whether his nearly two decades of service as a special forces soldier with nine overseas deployments contributed to his death.
Enlisted by the Army in 2006 to train as a member of its special forces, Livelsberger became a member of the 10th Special Forces Group, which conducts counterterrorism and training missions around the world. He deployed five times to Afghanistan, as well as had stints in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo.
Livelsberger was awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire. He also was awarded an Army Commendation Medal with valor.
His ex-girlfriend Alicia Arritt, who shared her text exchanges with Livelsberger with ABC News, said she remembered the Green Beret as funny, generous and kind and someone who loved children. He also liked art, basketball and fast cars. She said he was not impulsive.
If the Army finds that his suicide was caused by his service and “in the line of duty,” Livelsberger’s survivors would receive increased benefits.
With an FBI investigation ongoing, the Army has said only that Livelsberger participated in a holistic treatment program offered to special operations forces called the “Preservation of the Force and Family” program but that there were no red flags. The program, called POTFF, includes “physical, cognitive, medical and support resources as appropriate to each individual.”
Livelsberger, who was stationed in Germany at the time, didn’t display any “concerning behaviors” and was granted personnel leave shortly before his death, a spokesperson said.
“We encourage our Soldiers, if they need help, mental health treatment or need to speak with someone, to seek proactive behavioral health treatment either on base or online. They also have the option of talking to an Army chaplain,” Brig. Gen. Amanda Azubuike, chief of Army Public Affairs, said in a statement.
Dr. Rachel Yehuda, a professor of psychiatry and the neuroscience of trauma at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, said there are risk factors that seem to explain why some people are more vulnerable to PTSD than others.
This can include a person’s family history, exposure to trauma at a young age and biological factors that could make it more difficult for a person to “recalibrate” their nervous system after a traumatic event.
Yehuda, who is not involved in Livelsberger’s case and did not want to speak to his particular situation, said the trauma faced in general by service members in combat can be particularly challenging because it often occurs overseas when members are far away from close family and friends who can provide support. That support system, she said, can be critical to calming the nervous system.
“I think that we have to understand that trauma is a real thing. And it can really be detrimental to mental health, especially if you’re not in an environment where people can help you cope with all the things that you’re carrying,” she said.
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Fran Racioppi, a former 10th Special Forces Group officer who hosts a podcast on Green Berets and leadership, said the profile of a Green Beret soldier is unique because it’s someone capable of “extreme degrees of compassion” while also capable of going to war and maintaining the highest standards in warfighting.
“Whenever we have an incident when the behavior of a special operator drastically deviates from the standard profile, we need to understand the driving cause of that change and what contributing factors may cause a grievance,” he said.
Racioppi said he thinks the resources are there to support personnel like Livelsberger.
“But the first step will always be an operator’s self-assessment and willingness to seek help for themselves,” he said.
The SOCOM-sponsored study, conducted by the American Association of Suicidology, found at the time of its review, from 2012 through 2015, that many personnel were reluctant to raise their hands out of fear of getting sidelined, with suicide prevention training seen as a “check in the box.”
Livelsberger’s ex-girlfriend Arritt said he told her he feared getting help “because he wouldn’t be deployable.”
Sara Wilkinson, a suicide prevention advocate whose Navy SEAL husband died by suicide, said that while PTSD can be prevalent in the military, it’s not an arbitrary label that can be used to explain everyone’s experience. Wilkinson’s husband, Chad, was found to have suffered a unique type of brain scarring found in other deceased Navy SEALS.
Service members should know their story in life also can be one of tremendous resilience, she said.
“The point is you served. That comes at a price because of our last 20-plus years” of war, she said. “And you owe it to yourself, your loved ones and your life to be your own advocate physically and mentally.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Myers, Alex Stone, Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Shots rang out at the Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Black Friday, leaving three people injured, police said.
The shooting occurred at 1:44 p.m., according to the Little Rock Police Department. The three people who were hurt have injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, according to police.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. released a statement after the shooting, saying there are two suspects.
“Two individuals today jeopardized the lives and safety of residents and visitors,” Scott Jr. said Friday.
“We are praying for the victims of this incident, and are hopeful they make a full recovery,” he added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
