Soldier killed in mixup between real life, exercise

CARTHAGE, N.C. -- When he spotted the pickup truck with someone crouching in the back, exposed to the blustery, 40-degree cold, Deputy Sheriff Randall Butler got suspicious.

His fears were heightened after he pulled the truck over and noticed a duffel bag with a disassembled rifle inside. Then one of the three men in the truck came at him. Butler used pepper spray, then opened fire, killing one, wounding another.

What Butler apparently didn't know was that two of the suspicious men were actually Army Special Forces soldiers training for their coveted green berets.

The soldiers, in turn, thought Butler was an actor in their exercise, according to the account given by Moore County sheriff's officials.

The mixup near Fort Bragg Saturday has shaken Army officials, who plan to re-examine how they carried out the training exercise that they have been conducting for decades.

Army officials said the shooting was the tragic result of a breakdown in communications. They said the Sheriff's Department had not been told about exercise because the Army did not think the department would be involved.

The Army "will look at where the miscommunication happened and make sure we take some of the steps to ensure it doesn't happen again," said Maj. Gary Kolb, a spokesman at Fort Bragg.

No criminal charges will be filed, prosecutor Garland Yates said. Butler "reasonably believed that he was confronted with a threat justifying his use of deadly force," Yates said, and the soldiers believed Butler "was a participant in a legitimate training exercise."

Part of 'Robin Sage'

1st Lt. Tallas Tomeny was killed and Sgt. Stephen Phelps was wounded, a Fort Bragg spokesman said. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available.

Tomeny and Phelps were taking part in "Robin Sage," the final leg of training for soldiers trying to become Green Berets.

The two soldiers were in a truck driven by a civilian participant when Butler pulled them over on a rural road outside Robbins, about 30 miles from Fort Bragg. Chief Deputy Sheriff Lane Carter said Butler had seen the truck twice during a 30-minute period and thought the occupants were acting oddly.

"One was in the back of the truck and two were in the front of the truck. It was 40 degrees and the wind was blowing and the one in the back was crouched down and it just looked strange," he said.

After stopping the truck and seeing the duffel bag with a weapon, he ordered the two people in the cab to get out, and threw the bag on the ground, Carter said.

The soldiers then apparently tried to disarm Butler.

Tomeny tried to assault the deputy, Carter said. Butler sprayed him with pepper spray. Phelps came out of the back of the truck and tried to grab the weapon in the bag, and Butler shot and wounded him, Carter said. Tomeny came at him again and was shot to death.