Marines ID gunman, 2 victims in Quantico shooting

Published March 24, 2013

Associated Press

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QUANTICO, Va. –  A U.S. Marine who shot two of his colleagues to death and then killed himself was a tactics instructor at a school that tests Marines who want to become officers, military officials said Saturday.

Sgt. Eusebio Lopez, 25, gunned down 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata and Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, on Thursday night inside barracks at the Marine Corps Base Quantico south of Washington. Other than to say the three Marines worked together at the school, military officials have not described their relationship or released a motive for the shooting.

Lopez was a teacher whose specialty was machine gunner. He joined the corps in May 2006 and deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Castromata was a warehouse clerk who had been in the Marines since December 2011. Wooley was a field radio operator. He joined the Marines in February 2010.

Lopez was an instructor at officer candidates school, known for its grueling 10-week program that evaluates Marines on physical stamina, intelligence and leadership. The candidates must complete obstacle courses, hikes in full combat gear and take classes on navigation and tactics that help them in the field, according to the school's website.

Lopez's great-grandfather, also Eusebio Lopez, said the Marines contacted their family on Friday night.

"They told us they were investigating more, and they'd let us know. He wasn't the type to do stuff like that," said Lopez, 81.

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INDIANA STANDOFF: Sniper Takes Out Gunman Who Killed One, Took Kid

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  March 20, 2013: Armed officers surround a house in Fort Wayne, Ind., where police say a man suspected of killing a bus passenger earlier in the day is holding a 3-year-old child hostage.AP/The Journal Gazette

A man pulled a woman off a bus in Indiana on Wednesday and fatally shot her in front of several witnesses before fleeing, cutting between houses in a neighborhood where he holed up in a house with a 3-year-old during a police standoff.

The man and woman had both been riding a Citilink bus, but Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Raquel Foster said it wasn't clear whether they were companions. Nonetheless, police do not believe the shooting was random and "have a good idea who (they're) looking for," she told The Journal Gazette.

Foster later told WANE-TV that the man was barricaded in a home and holding a 3-year-old hostage. It was not clear if the child was related to the man.

The man pulled the woman, described as a young adult, off the bus about 8 a.m. and fatally shot her about 25 feet away before fleeing on foot into the surrounding neighborhood, police said. A backpack lay at the feet of the victim, whose body was covered by a sheet.

The Allen County Coroner's Office has identified the woman as Jacqueline Bouvier Hardy, 49, of Fort Wayne, The Journal Gazette reports. 

The street was busy with morning traffic, including children waiting at school bus stops, when the shooting happened, and police said there were a number of witnesses. Fort Wayne Community Schools spokeswoman Krista Stockman told WANE-TV that two elementary schools were nearby, and some children saw the shooting on their way to school. She said the schools were taking extra precautions.

Citilink General Manager Kenneth Housden said police will be reviewing video and audio equipment from the bus for their investigation.

Housden said the incident, though tragic, was an isolated one and people should continue to feel safe on Citilink buses.

"We have video and audio on all the buses," Housden said. "Of course, the police department will be reviewing that and it will be pretty definitive. We do take safety and security very seriously and respond very quickly to any incident."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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