5 dead as U.S. soldier in Iraq opens fire on fellow troops

A U.S. soldier was in custody after allegedly gunning down five fellow troops Monday at a counseling center on a military base in Baghdad, officials said, in the worst incident of its kind since the Iraq war began.

An investigation was underway, the military said in a brief statement. The names of the suspect and victims were not immediately released.

The shooting took place about 2 p.m. at Camp Liberty, part of a sprawling complex of bases housing tens of thousands of troops and contractors adjoining Baghdad’s airport. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama was shocked by the news and had ordered a full investigation.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed his “horror and deep regret” and extended condolences to the families of the slain soldiers.

“We are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened, but if the preliminary reports are confirmed, such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern,” he told reporters.

The shooting hit hard among U.S. troops in Iraq, where casualties are normally the result of hostile enemy action. “Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” Col. John Robinson, spokesman for the Multinational Corps in Iraq, said in a statement.

Pentagon officials said the incident occurred at a combat stress center, but it was unclear whether the gunman had been seeking treatment there. It was also unclear whether those killed had been attending or working at the center.

Combat stress cases have escalated dramatically in recent years as many soldiers make their third or fourth tours of duty in Iraq, veterans affairs advocates say. There have been several instances in recent months in which Iraqi soldiers have fatally shot Americans on military bases, and a smaller number of incidents in which U.S. soldiers have killed fellow Americans.

In coming weeks, a military court is expected to decide whether to court-martial Sgt. Joseph C. Bozicevich of the 3rd Infantry Division on charges of shooting to death his superior and another soldier in September during a discussion of his supposedly poor performance at a patrol base south of Baghdad. In April 2005, Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the 101st Airborne was sentenced to death for a 2003 grenade attack on fellow soldiers at a U.S. base in Kuwait on the eve of the war.

The last time five U.S. soldiers died in a single incident was April 10, in a suicide attack in the northern city of Mosul.

The U.S. military also reported the death Sunday of a U.S. soldier in a roadside bombing in the southern city of Basra. British troops, who had controlled the city since the start of the war, left at the end of April. It was the first U.S. fatality in Basra since U.S. troops took over responsibility for the oil-rich area. Basra police said it was the fifth roadside bombing against U.S. troops in the last 10 days, suggesting an intensified effort by Shiite insurgents in a city that had been considered largely pacified.

The deaths bring the U.S. military toll in the war to 4,292, according to icasualties.org, an independent website.

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liz.sly@latimes.com

Times staff writer Julian E. Barnes in Washington and a special correspondent in Basra contributed to this report.