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A mysterious shooting in North Carolina north of Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, not far from where some of America’s most elite U.S. Special Operations forces live and train is under investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Division as well as local police. The shooting in Carthage, North Carolina occurred May 3 at 8:15 p.m. following a phone call about a suspected trespasser near a Special Forces soldier’s property.
Two Chechen men who spoke broken English were found near the soldier’s home. The family alleges the suspected intruder, 35-year-old Ramzan Daraev of Chicago was taking photos of their children. When confronted near a power line in a wooded part of the property, an altercation ensued and Daraev was shot several times at close range. A second man, Dzhankutov Adsalan, was in a vehicle some distance from the incident and was questioned by authorities and then released. The Moore County Sheriff’s office is leading the investigation.
The FBI told Fox News, “Our law enforcement partners at the Moore County Sheriff’s Office contacted the FBI after a shooting death in Carthage. A special agent met with investigators and provided a linguist to assist with a language barrier for interviews.”
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Sheriff Ronnie Fields said in a statement: “The caller indicated that an individual was observed taking photographs on the property and had become aggressive towards a resident outside their home…. The deceased was found approximately 250 yards from the roadway, along a powerline on the residential property. Identification was not initially found on Daraev; however, his identity was later confirmed through family members and an international identification located in his vehicle.”
The shooter has been identified as a Colonel with the U.S. Army who resided at the location of the shooting.
U.S. Special Operations soldiers around the country have experienced strange interactions in recent years that they say involve suspicious surveillance of them and their families. Many believe that U.S. military bases have become an increasing target of foreign probes.
A mysterious shooting near Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, is under investigation. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
The shooting incident two weeks ago in Carthage could have been a case of mistaken identity. The two Chechens had no personal identification. They did have two cell phones with Russian language contacts and camera equipment. They were not wearing any uniforms for the power company that reportedly employed them.
Sheriff Ronnie Fields said Daraev was working as a subcontractor for Utilities One, a company based in New Jersey, at the time of his death. Investigators are still working to verify his official employment and immigration status.
At the time of the incident, Daraev was not in possession of any utility equipment, utility clothing, or identification. The incident has been reported to the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
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Sources tell Fox News that “power company employment is often a cover for status/action” that U.S. intelligence agents use for surveillance of foreign targets overseas.
In a separate incident 18 months ago, Moore County experienced another mysterious shooting attack that targeted two electrical distribution substations. Damage from the attack left up to 40,000 residential and business customers without power in North Carolina for nearly 2 weeks. The power outage primarily affected communities heavily populated by U.S. Special Operations families. Less than two weeks prior to the Moore County substation incident, the FBI sent a report to private industry warning of an increase in reported threats to electric infrastructure from people who espouse “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology.” The FBI took over that investigation, which remains unsolved.
Daraev’s family launched a Change.org petition called “Justice for Ramzan Daraev” which has already received more than 11,000 signatures adding, “Ramzan left Russia, not realizing that the greatest injustice against him would be done in a free country where in theory he should have received protection.”
Moore County, home to Fort Liberty, has seen two suspicious shootings in the past two years. (Photo by ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)
This May 3 shooting in Carthage may simply have been a case of mistaken identity, but members of the Special Operations community are asking why two Russian-speaking Chechens were taking photos near an elite Army special forces residence at 8:15 pm on a Friday night some 10 minutes after sunset and why the FBI is not the lead in the investigation.
The FBI tells Fox News the Bureau has not opened a counterintelligence investigation and that, “The local investigation has not uncovered evidence of a federal crime,” adding “the FBI is in regular contact with the sheriff’s office investigators and are prepared to investigate if a federal matter comes to light.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This report was updated on June 6 at 11:00 a.m. ET to remove references to Daraev’s immigration status, which has not been corroborated.
Jennifer Griffin currently serves as a national security correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) and is based out of the Washington D.C. bureau. She joined the network in October 1999 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent.
