He told Routh that he, too, had had PTSD. [5] Both Kyle and Littlefield were armed with .45-caliber M1911-style pistols when they were killed, but neither gun had been unholstered or fired, and the safety catches were still on. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [1][2][3], Chris Kyle had begun working with veterans after leaving the military. Two years after Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyles death, Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty of first degree murder. Kyle and Littlefield had reportedly taken Routh to the gun range in an effort to help him with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which he suffered from his time in the military. However, according to the record, it was confirmed that only 160 of the kills were confirmed.. Not to mention this man had contributed his skill four times during the time of the Iraq War. But the legend came to an end last Saturday evening at a shooting range in his home state. Chris Kyle, who has been branded an "American Hero [1]," never expressed any regrets for his many victims but stated that he wished he could have murdered more. Routh had been constantly in and out of mental institutions over a two-year period and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, as well as PTSD after his career in the Marine Corps. He survived gunshot wounds, explosions and horrors of war most of us couldn't imagine. Anything we can do, I think its worth it for these guys who have put it all on the line, she says. Mother reveals devastation after learning her daughter, two, is battling a rare disorder that affects only Netflix is hiring a flight attendant for one of its private jets with a mouth-watering pay of up to $385,000 Not quite love at first sight! Why it may be caused by 'one infection after another' - as Emma Raducanu is knocked OUT of the Australian Open after her battle for a comeback, at a set and break American tennis legend Chris Evert announces she's cancer free with a '90 percent chance it will never come Rafa Nadal's wife breaks down in TEARS as she watches the defending champion crash out of the Australian How much will YOUR broadband go up in price? It hurt like hell, he said, but he just kept shooting. Routh was arrested after a short freeway chase that saw him flee in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck and crash into a police cruiser. A funeral service for. Tom Fox Pool/Getty ImagesEddie Ray Routh was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. Routh was a 25-year-old Marine who had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. Im going to do everything I can to help your son, he told her, according to The New Yorker. Moore suggested Kyle, who worked with troubled veterans and had only met Routh that day, suspected something was wrong after picking up Routh. I knew this would give me a voice so I could speak about the guys I know who were killed. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle leaves behind his wife Taya and two children. But as Kyle and Littlefield drove him to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge, in Erath County, Texas, that fateful day, they realized how unstable he was. These guys dont do it easily. "[6][10] Local police captured Routh after a short freeway chase, which ended when Routh, who fled the scene in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck, crashed into a police cruiser in Lancaster. Later, itll be up to his lawyers to convince jurors that mental illness kept him from knowing right from wrong. Here are five things to know about the decorated two-time Silver Star recipient, whose nickname was the Legend.. [4], In late July 2011, Routh was diagnosed by clinicians at Veterans hospital as having post-traumatic stress disorder and was prescribed antipsychotics and antidepressants. For Chris it was, This is what I trained for. According to a blog post from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Kyle ultimately decided to enlist after he suffered a bull riding injury at a rodeo. Paramedic Matthew Green said both men were unresponsive when he treated them at the scene. 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Asked whether he regretted any of his kills, he told D Magazine, I regret the people I couldnt kill before they got to my boys., Still, he told D that he didnt feel like a hero. He almost ended up dead after bursting into one room to find a group of armed Caucasian men, some of them blonde, wearing old-style camouflage. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. By the time Kyle returned home after four combat deployments in Iraq, with two Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars to his name, however, his time as a sniper had taken its toll. Kyle was the author of \"American Sniper\", a best seller about Kyle's 150+ insurgent kills. Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were shot and killed by a former Marine that they had taken to a gun range as therapy to address his PTSD in 2013. Zook has closely followed this month's tragedy. VA clinicians believed Routh's psychotic symptoms were caused by alcohol abuse and offered inpatient treatment. CHRIS Kyle became a household name after his autobiography, American Sniper, was adapted into a movie by Clint Eastwood. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In police video played in court, Eddie Routh answered \"Yes, sir\" to \"You know what you did today is wrong, right?\"SUBSCRIBE for the latest news and updates from ABC News http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=abcnews To read the full story and others, visit http://www.abcnews.com Watch more news stories from ABC News!More stories like this from ABC News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEdigLsKZyA\u0026list=PLQOa26lW-uI85qLlvNmzHhUz6AneEGDi1More World News Tonight with David Muirs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2MD_zLDgdM\u0026list=PL5E6638EB9ECF2329To read the full story and others, visit http://www.abcnews.comFollow ABC News across the web!Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/abcnews Twitter: http://twitter.com/ABCInstagram: https://instagram.com/ABCNews/ Watch as criminal investigations unfold, and witness the technology that helps the real life crime scene investigations (CSI) bring criminals to justice. With his huge tally of both Pentagon confirmed and unconfirmed kills, he became a popular SEAL known by his infantry as "The Legend" - which could be something to do with him surviving two shootings and six separate IED detonations. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. "It's a highfalutin' place," Zook said. The pair took Routh to the shooting range for a therapeutic session, in a bid to help Routh's post-traumatic stress disorder. Chris Kyle survived four tours in Iraq. Taya Kyle cried at points during her testimony, including when she described last seeing her husband before he left to pick up both Routh and Littlefield on their way to Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, Texas. Newsfeed Now: Biden unveils $1.75 trillion spending, Newsfeed Now: Democrats push to wrap up negotiations, Newsfeed Now: FDA panel backs Pfizers low-dose COVID-19, Newsfeed Now: Industry peers angry over deadly movie, Newsfeed Now: Infrastructure Bill drawing toward, Newsfeed Now: FBI IDs remains of Brian Laundrie;, WATCH: Master Minds host, star discuss hit game show, This Dallas restaurant serves some of the meanest,, Texas ranked among best states in US for business, Judge denies class action status for fired Twitter, Cooler temps to end work week behind cold front, Texas deli ranked among best places to get pastrami, Expect to receive lower income tax refund this year, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. She texted her husband a few hours later, writing: "Are you OK? Kyle wrote a book in 2012 called American Sniper: The Autobiography, telling the story of his four tours in Iraq from 1999-2009. Continue your flu-free streak with these tips to stay healthy this flu season. After his death, Clint Eastwood directed a 2014 film, American Sniper, based on Kyles book. After hed killed Kyle and Littlefield, Routh got into Kyles truck and fled. Police believe that after the two men were shot on Saturday afternoon at Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, Routh used the phone to call his sister before driving Kyle's truck to her house. SEAL snipers work in pairs and their job in Fallujah was to cover the advance of U.S. Marines into the city. He believed that where most recruits failed in training was stalking the art of sneaking into a position without being seen. American Sniper - Chris Kyle Funeral Procession & Tribute - YouTube 0:00 2:57 American Sniper - Chris Kyle Funeral Procession & Tribute Eric Paulson 772 subscribers Subscribe 9.7K. World News Tonight keeps the American public informed, up to date, and empowered by providing the latest information and analysis of major breaking news from around the country and the world. I would worry about him all the time. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he turned on Kyle and Littlefield so suddenly that they had no chance to defend themselves. And then he had his way.. He argued that the lodge should have cleaned the guns prior to the day's shooting. He went to a military recruiting office interested in the Marine Corps, and eventually achieved 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEA, Air, Land (SEAL) training in 1999 and graduated in 2001. His other court-appointed attorney, J. Warren St. John, said Routh was released from the Dallas Veterans Affairs hospital against his family's wishes just two days before the shootings. From there, Kyle quickly proved his mettle as a marksman. He had hoped to do the same to his killer, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine who struggled with his mental health after leaving the service. And it also inspired a Texas woman named Jodi Routh to reach out to Kyle to see if he could help her son, Eddie Ray Routh. Head to abc.go.com for programming schedule and more information on ABC News. Meanwhile, Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said in his opening argument, Routh was imbibing in drugs and alcohol. The phone, a box of 9 mm ammunition, drug paraphernalia including a bong and glass pipe and a blue-jean jacket were seized from Eddie Ray Routh's home after he was arrested. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. I said, Is everything okay? And he said, Yeah, I just need to get down there and get back. , Asked about the irony of his death occurring at home after surviving such brutal odds in combat, Taya, who says she is still grappling with the big hole in her heart, replies, Whats so interesting is that I was always such an over thinker anyway. He also often drank alongside his medication, before he began refusing to take it. Yet, at first, the day seemed to continue as normal. Crime scene photos shown in court show Kyle lying on the dirt in front of an elevated deck from which rifles were fired at targets up to 1,000 yards away. Taya Kyle reveals how American Sniper brought her husband back to life and why she trusted Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper. Routh killed Kyle at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range in Erath County, Texas on February 2, 2013. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle had $20,000 bounty placed on his head by Iraqis With up to 160 confirmed kills became deadliest sniper in US military history Shot at shooting range in Texas by troubled. As they neared their doom, Kyle texted Littlefield: This dude is straight up nuts.. Routh allegedly turned his gun on both Chris and Littlefield and is now awaiting trial for capital murder. Bestseller: Kyle's naked hatred of enemies, who he described as savages shocked some, but the American Sniper became an instant bestseller, selling 800,000 copies to date. Routh, a 25-year-old Marine, had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to The New Yorker, Routh drank too much, struggled to keep jobs, had panic attacks, and threatened to kill himself. But Chris Kyle soon found a new calling: helping his fellow veterans adjust to civilian life. The Washington Post reports that Chris Kyle died from a rapidly fatal shot through his aorta as well as one to his jaw that caused a spinal cord injury. At the Rough Creek Lodge near Stephenville, investigators even found pistols on the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield. Bradley Cooper starred as Kyle in the 2014 film alongside Sienna Miller, which went on to win two Academy Awards. Doctors diagnosed him with PTSD in 2011, but despite being prescribed medication, Routh continued to struggle with his mental health. [12] His trial was set to begin May 5, 2014, but was delayed to allow more time to comply with DNA testing requirements. Born on April 8, 1974, in Odessa, Texas, Christopher Scott Kyle dreamt of joining the military from a young age. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. CHRIS Kyle became a household name after his autobiography, American Sniper, was adapted into a movie by Clint Eastwood. Kyle became so notorious that Iraqi insurgents dubbed him Al Shaitan Ramadi: the Devil of Ramadi. Erath County Sheriffs OfficeEddie Ray Rouths mugshot, taken after Chris Kyles death. It was incredibly personal and intimate, says Miller. My teammates made it possible., Theres an inaccurate stereotype of these guys, that they love war, says Taya. T he filmmakers behind American Sniper left out Chris Kyle's violent murder at the end of the blockbuster movie for the sake of his two kids, says screenwriter Jason Hall. Please enter valid email address to continue. As his reputation spread, other snipers openly wondered what his secret was. On day two, jurors were shown some graphic pictures of the crime scene. Kyle, who was a former Navy SEAL, and his friend Littlefield were walking down range to set up targets when Eddie Ray Routh opened fire and hit both of them. Eddie Ray Rouths mugshot, taken after Chris Kyles death. In September, Routh was transported to a psychiatric hospital after he threatened to kill himself and his family, and he later told officers that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Lancaster police records show. The staffer provided Long with a 12-gauge shotgun and shells. Kyle's life came to a tragic end on February 2, 2013, when he and a colleague, Chad Littlefield, were shot at a gun range outside of Forth Worth, Texas, by Eddie Ray Routh, an ex-Marine who had . Many fans were drawn to Kyles unashamed patriotism and unvarnished account of modern warfare. On another occasion he calmly broke off a phone conversation with his wife to fight off a fierce night attack. But it wasn't the first time Rough Creek has seen tragedy at its gun range. He was a loving dad and husband.The father of two had a huge heart and softness as well as strength, says Taya. ': Kim Kardashian is hailed the 'Queen of TikTok' after giving herself a Want the best deals for peak-season holidays? As he told the Dallas Morning News in 2012, he wanted to "be a cowboy [or] be in the military." So Kyle tried life as a cowboy first. Taya Ranae Studebacker was born in Portland, Oregon, and is the daughter of the mayor of Lake Oswego, Kent Studebaker. It would be the first of 160 confirmed kills, though Kyle himself pegged the number as much higher. / CBS News. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Even after several reconstructive surgeries, Long still cannot close his left thumb to his hand. The case attracted national attention due to Kyle's fame as author of a bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, published in 2012. From the start to finish ABC News is your source for the breaking stories of the rising crime rate in our nation. Routh embarked on a humanitarian mission to Haiti in January 2010, and was honorably discharged the following year. Prince Harry is dubbed 'a stupid boy' as growing number of ex-top brass criticise him for revealing his Charles's first royal RSVP! Kyle, while driving to the shooting range, texted Littlefield, This dude is straight up nuts. Littlefield responded: Hes right behind me, watch my six, meaning, watch my back. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. In the end, I think we felt that this was a film about Chriss life and not about his death, the films screenwriter Jason Hall told New York Daily News. Then, Routh attacked. Helping hand: Kyle had taken Routh, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, to the range as therapy, After the first kill, the others come easy. Counting calories IS king when it comes to losing weight - NOT fasting, study finds. Kyle had begun working with veterans after leaving the military and Routh's mother had asked him to help her son. Chris Kyle was shot and killed at a shooting range in Erath County, Texas, alongside his friend Chad Littlefield on February 2, 2013. Subscribe now to get instant access to the real story behind Chris Kyle, in this issue of PEOPLE. A Lancaster officer described trying to talk Rought into getting out of Chris Kyles truck. Guys I know who were killed film, American Sniper, published in 2012 book in 2012 begun working veterans. Herself a want the best deals for peak-season holidays one of legend not... Routh that he, too, had been one of legend if not controversy events, was... 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