Man Who Shot 2, Killed Himself Had Been Court-Martialed

A 22-year-old Fallbrook man who shot two women Marines thirteen times outside a Camp Pendleton barracks Sunday before killing himself had been released from the Marine Corps in May with a “less than honorable discharge,” a spokesman at the base said.

Benny L. Jackson had been a private with the First Force Service Support Group, the same unit as the women he tried to kill with a semiautomatic pistol at about 4:15 Sunday afternoon, Gunnery Sgt. John Farrell said.

He had received a special court-martial in August, 1990, although the reasons for the court-martial and Jackson’s later discharge remained unclear Monday, Farrell said.

Jackson had an ongoing relationship with one of the women, a 20-year-old private 1st class whom he shot five times, twice in the back. She was taken to Palomar Medical Center, where she was in critical but stable condition Monday. The woman’s name has not been released because her husband has not yet been notified, Farrell said.

She appeared to be the prime target of Sunday’s shooting.

“The extent of their relationship is not known at this time. I don’t know if she was a former girlfriend because she is married,” Farrell said.

Lance Cpl. Kairovan L. Balvick, also 20, was shot eight times by Jackson and taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where she was in serious but stable condition Monday. The two women were roommates at the base, Farrell said.

Jackson put the gun to his head after shooting the women, Farrell said. He was pronounced dead at the Naval Hospital at 5:07 p.m.

While visitors to the base are randomly searched for weapons, Jackson signed in and carried the gun onto the base undetected Sunday.

“I would say that the base takes precautions against it,” Farrell said, “but basically anyone who wants to visit the base just shows proof of insurance and a driver’s license and we let them aboard the base.”