Report: Army Knew How Tillman Died

Army officials knew within days of Pat Tillman’s death that the former NFL player had been killed by fellow Rangers during a patrol in Afghanistan but did not inform his family and the public for weeks, a published report says.

A new Army report shows that Gen. John P. Abizaid, then the commander in Afghanistan, and other top Army officials were aware an investigation had determined that the death was caused by an act of “gross negligence” four days before a nationally televised memorial service, the Washington Post reported after reviewing nearly 2,000 pages of documents it obtained.

Tillman, 27, turned down a multimillion-dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks.

He was taking cover behind a boulder near the Pakistani border when a gun battle erupted April 22, 2004.

The Post reported in its online edition Tuesday night that troops on the scene said they were immediately sure Tillman was killed by Americans.

The documents show that officers erroneously reported that Tillman was killed by enemy fire, destroyed crucial evidence and initially concealed the truth from his brother, also an Army Ranger, who was near the attack, the paper reported.

The memorial service for Tillman took place in San Jose on May 3, 2004. The Army did not announce until May 29 that Tillman had died because of friendly fire.