Marine who killed self served 2 tours in Iraq - Marine Corps News, news from Afghanistan - Marine Corps Times

Marine who killed self served 2 tours in Iraq

TORONTO — A U.S. Marine wanted by the military for abandoning his unit, who fatally shot himself after sneaking across the border into Canada, had served two terms in Iraq, officials said Saturday.

Timothy Scott, 22, turned a gun on himself Thursday at his mother's home near Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

A statement released Saturday by Camp Lejeune said Scott had been deployed to Iraq for eight months in 2007 and for seven months in 2008.

The rifleman, who was assigned to headquarters and the support battalion at Camp Lejeune, had joined the Marine Corps in 2005, said the statement.

Police said Scott, who left his unit sometime around Tuesday, entered into Canada on Wednesday from Woodstock, New Brunswick. He arrived at his mother's home the next day, where he initially threatened her before turning the gun on himself, RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Furey said.

The Marine Corps. statement said Scott lived in Alexandria, Va. Furey said his parents owned another home a couple hours away in Norfolk, Va.

Furey said the handgun the soldier used on himself was reported stolen from the Norfolk home.

Cpl. Melissa McCoy at Camp Lejeune said Scott had been listed as leaving the unit in what the military deems an "unauthorized absence," meaning he had been away from the base for less than 30 days. After that, he would be considered a deserter.

Scott's death represents a larger trend of rising rates of suicides within the U.S. Army as the strained military wages war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army had its highest rate of suicide on record in 2008 and is investigating a spike in the number in January.

The U.S. Military Academy recently addressed the growing rate of suicides after four cadets took their lives. In the last seven months, two cadets, a faculty member and a staff member at the academy have taken their lives.

Top Veterans Affairs Committee Sens. Daniel Akaka and Richard Burr have asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to convene a joint oversight committee meeting to address military suicides.