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The Army's Criminal Investigation Division and local police are investigating a mysterious shooting that occurred north of Fort Liberty, North Carolina (formerly Fort Bragg), not far from where America's most elite Special Operations forces live and train. The shooting in Carthage, North Carolina, happened at 8:15 p.m. on May 3rd after a call was received reporting a trespasser near the Special Operations soldiers' compound.
Two Chechen men speaking broken English were found near the soldier's home. Family members claim the suspected intruder, Ramzan Daraev, 35, of Chicago, had been taking photos of their children. When they confronted Daraev near power lines in the woods on the property, an argument ensued and Daraev was shot multiple times at close range. A second man, Djankhtov Azlan, was found in a vehicle a short distance from the incident and was questioned by authorities and later released. The Moore County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation.
“Our law enforcement partners at the Moore County Sheriff's Office contacted the FBI following the fatal shooting in Carthage. Special agents met with investigators and provided a linguist to assist with any language barriers during the interview,” the FBI told Fox News.
This appears to be a foreigner targeting a US military installation: Dan Hoffman
Sheriff Ronnie Fields said in a statement: “A caller reported an individual was observed taking photographs on the property and becoming aggressive towards residents outside the home. The body was discovered along power lines on the residential property, approximately 250 yards from the road. Daraev was not initially identified, but was later identified by family members and international identification found in the vehicle.”
The shooter was identified as a U.S. Army colonel who lived at the scene of the shooting.
In recent years, U.S. Special Forces soldiers across the country have reported experiencing strange interactions, including suspicious surveillance of them and their families, and many believe U.S. military bases are increasingly becoming targets for foreign investigations.
A mysterious shooting near Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) is under investigation. (Photo: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
The shooting two weeks ago in Carthage may have been a case of mistaken identity. The two Chechens had no identification, two mobile phones with Russian contact details and camera equipment. They were not wearing the uniforms of the power company for which they were supposedly employed.
Sheriff Ronnie Fields said Daraev was working as a subcontractor for New Jersey-based Utilities One at the time of his death. Investigators are continuing to verify Daraev's official employment and immigration status.
At the time of the incident, Daraev was not carrying any utility equipment, utility clothing, or identification. The incident has been reported to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Kilmeade visits Fort Liberty, home of the XVIII Airborne Corps
“Employment at a power company is often a cover for positions and activities used by U.S. intelligence officers to surveil foreign nationals overseas,” a source told Fox News.
In another incident 18 months ago, a mysterious shooting targeted two power distribution substations in Moore County. The damage from that attack left up to 40,000 residential and business customers in North Carolina without power for nearly two weeks. The outages primarily affected areas densely populated by families of U.S. military special forces. Less than two weeks before the Moore County substation incident, the FBI sent a report to private industry warning of an increase in reports of threats to power infrastructure from individuals espousing “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideologies.” The FBI took over that investigation, but it remains open.
Daraev's family has launched a petition on Change.org called “Justice for Ramzan Daraev” which has already garnered over 11,000 signatures, adding that “Ramzan left Russia not knowing that the greatest injustice would be perpetrated against him in a free country where, in theory, he should have been protected.”
Moore County, where Fort Liberty is located, has seen two suspicious shootings in the past two years. (Photo: Alison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)
While the May 3 shooting in Carthage may have been a case of mistaken identity, members of special operations forces are wondering why the FBI isn't leading the investigation into why two Russian-speaking Chechens were taking photos near the barracks of elite Army special forces at 8:15 p.m. on a Friday night, about 10 minutes after the sun had set.
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The FBI told Fox News that it has not opened a counterintelligence investigation and that “the local investigation has not uncovered evidence of federal crimes,” adding that “the FBI is in regular contact with investigators at the sheriff's office and stands ready to investigate any federal matters that come to light.”