Officer Shot at Camp Pendleton Is Improving

One of two officers shot by an enlisted man Tuesday at Camp Pendleton has improved sufficiently to be transferred from a civilian trauma center to the base hospital, base officials said Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Thomas A. Heffner, who was shot at least once in the chest with a .45-caliber pistol, was transferred to the base hospital from Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. He is listed in serious but stable condition. His family lives on base.

Heffner was shot just moments after the same gunman fatally shot Lt. Col. Daniel Kidd.

Kidd, 40, who lived in Oceanside and is survived by a wife and two children, was executive officer of Marine Air Logistics Squadron 39, a helicopter maintenance unit. Heffner, 43, is the unit’s commander.

Arrested for the crime was Sgt. Jessie A. Quintanilla, 28, of Riverside, a seven-year veteran of the corps assigned to the supply section of the squadron.

Officials said that Quintanilla’s name had surfaced in an investigation into a gang-related incident on base and that the shootings occurred after he had been summoned to Kidd’s office. Personnel evaluations, which can be crucial to decisions about promotions and reenlistment applications, are underway at the base, but officials were unsure whether that played a role in the shootings.

Quintanilla allegedly concealed a .45-caliber pistol, which is not a Marine Corps weapon, when he went to meet with Kidd, who shared adjoining offices with Heffner in the giant hangar where the squadron’s helicopters are kept.

If convicted of murder by a military court, Quintanilla could be sentenced to death by firing squad, although the military has not carried out an execution in three decades. Quintanilla would have appeal rights to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The sprawling base, where 37,000 active-duty Marines and sailors are assigned, returned to business Wednesday, with no changes in security. But Marines were struggling to cope with the emotional impact of the shootings, unprecedented in the half-century history of the base.

Base spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry Broeckert said the incident, along with being a tragedy for the families of the victims, also strikes at the heart of the Marines’ respect for authority.

Col. Michael Aguilar, commanding officer of Marine Air Group 39, said that Marines, while aware of the workplace violence in American society, felt “somewhat protected” because they work alongside other Marines.

“We’re prepared, as Marines, to go to war and face danger or death, but we would never expect it from within the family,” Aguilar said.

Quintanilla, being kept in the base brig, will have a magistrate’s hearing, possibly as early as today, to decide what charges he will face.