Nicholas Mikel

A native of DeBary, Florida, Pvt. Nicholas D. Mikel was a U.S. soldier who was charged with 42 counts of attempted murder after shooting at fellow soldiers during morning exercise in Fort Campbell, Kentucky on October 13, 2005.

Mikel was a member of the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team in E Company (a rear detachment while the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to Iraq).

On October 12 Mikel was involved in what has since been alleged to have been a rape.

At 6 a.m. on the morning of the 13th, Mikel donned a black jacket, tactical holster and a balaclava mask, and at 6:32, walked out from behind a building to a formation preparing for morning exercise and fired three rounds at the formation from his personally-owned .357 Magnum. He then fled the scene, firing two more shots at a soldier who came out of a doorway. Mikel removed his gear, and told Military Police that he had just seen somebody run away from the scene. Having witnessed what happened, the police arrested him immediately, at 6:53 a.m.

On March 18, 2006, Mikel petitioned the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces for a review of his case.

At his court martial, he wept at sentencing and pleaded guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence (twenty five years instead of fifty) and apologised for his actions, saying he had made a "terrible mistake".

Charges

• assault with intent to rape
• 42 counts of premeditated attempted murder
• 4 counts of attempted murder
• unlawful appropriation of a government laptop
• failure to obey an order (having an unregistered firearm on base)