Following is a statement issued by Lt. Col. Paul Swiergosc of the Fort Drum Public Affairs Office, on the death of Staff. Sgt. Dustin McMillen. McMillen was shot and killed by Fort Drum Police as they responded to a domestic incident at an on-post residence early Saturday morning.NEWS RELEASE: Remarks given by 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs
Officer at Feb. 10 press conference regarding the death of Staff Sgt.
Dustin McMillen
** The following remarks were prepared for delivery by Lt. Col. Paul
Swiergosz, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs Officer, at a Feb. 10
press conference regarding the death of Staff Sgt. Dustin McMillen Feb.
9, 2008. **
FORT DRUM - On behalf of Maj. Gen. Michael Oates and all the Soldiers
and civilians who call Fort Drum home, I would like to offer our deepest
condolences to the family and friends of Staff Sgt. Dustin McMillen.
This has been a terrible tragedy for everyone concerned and our primary
concern right now is to take care of the physical and emotional needs of
his family as well as those of the officers involved in yesterday's
shooting.
We have relocated the McMillen family to temporary housing here on post,
and the unit chaplain has been assisting them with counseling since
early yesterday. It has been a difficult time for the family - we are
doing, and will continue to do, the very best we can to take care of
their needs.
Yesterday's shooting is still under investigation, but this is what we
know right now:
About 1:30 a.m. on Feb 9., the Directorate of Emergency Services
received a 9-1-1 hang-up from 9934-B Saratoga Rd., Fort Drum. A patrol
was dispatched to investigate. Upon arrival, two officers met with Staff
Sgt. Dustin McMillen, who informed them the 9-1-1 call was a
misunderstanding.
As the officers were gathering information regarding the situation,
Staff Sergeant McMillen, without warning, produced a concealed handgun
and ordered the police officers to surrender their weapons.
A second patrol, responding to the scene, entered the residence and
discovered Staff Sgt. McMillen holding the two police officers in the
residence at gunpoint.
The second group of officers identified themselves and attempted to
communicate with Staff Sgt. McMillen to get him to surrender. Staff Sgt.
McMillen fired two shots in the general direction of the second group of
officers. One of those officers, after getting into a position to
witness Staff Sgt. McMillen holding the first two officers at gunpoint,
fired two shots at Staff Sgt. McMillen, hitting him twice.
Staff Sgt. McMillen was apprehended alive, and transported by EMTs to
Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown where he was subsequently
pronounced dead.
An autopsy of Staff Sgt. McMillen was conducted Saturday, and
preliminary findings are consistent with the sequence of events
described to investigators.
Staff Sgt. Dustin J. McMillen, 29, was an infantryman assigned to 2nd
Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
McMillen joined the Army in December 1998 and served at Fort Campbell
and Hohenfels, Germany before his assignment to Fort Drum in September
2004.
By all accounts, Soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division who served with
Staff Sgt. McMillen describe him as a solid Soldier, both as a squad
leader in Afghanistan, and platoon sergeant here at Fort Drum.
To our knowledge he had not been referred nor sought counseling for any
battle-related illnesses or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
As I said earlier, our focus now is to ensure the family's needs are
taken care of and that all the emergency professionals who responded to
this incident receive any counseling assistance they require.
