Man Bent On Revenge Kills 4, Hurts 21 -- Psychiatrist Is First Slain In Rampage At Fairchild Air Force Base

SPOKANE - A military psychiatrist who had recommended Dean Mellberg's discharge was the Michigan man's first target in yesterday's shooting spree that left five dead, including Mellberg, and 21 injured at Fairchild Air Force Base.

"He knew where he was going. He went directly to that (the psychiatrist's) office," said Spokane County Undersheriff John Goldman.

Mellberg, 20, armed with an AK-47, killed the psychiatrist and then began firing as he walked through the base hospital, officials said.

Ten of the injured were critically wounded. The names of the victims had not been released by early today.

Goldman said Mellberg had been stationed at Fairchild as late as February, before he was sent for a psychological evaluation at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico and discharged from the Air Force in May.

The gunman wore black jeans, a black T-shirt and tennis shoes and stowed his AK-47 in a large duffel bag for a taxi trip from a Spokane motel to the hospital, which is outside the base security area.

After shooting the psychiatrist about 3 p.m., Mellberg shot one other person in the psychiatrist's hospital-annex office, Goldman said.

The gunman then walked through a hallway in the hospital annex, firing as he went. He briefly entered the main hospital and sprayed gunfire through the cafeteria before going outside.

Mellberg shot a woman in the hospital parking lot and was chasing a man around a car when the MP who arrived on bicycle patrol shot and killed him, the undersheriff said.

The shootings at the base hospital and annex, a three-story cement-block building, occurred while hundreds of people were in the building, Goldman said.

Reports of the number of injured fluctuated in the chaotic aftermath of the shootings. However, Goldman said 18 people had been taken to hospitals in Spokane while three others were treated at Fairchild.

Soon after reports of shots fired, emergency vehicles were clustered along Graham Road near the base hospital. The wounded were taken to area hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.

"I've never seen anything like this in terms of the number of victims and the severity of the injuries," said Dr. Gregory Jones, an emergency room physician at Deaconess Medical Center.

Back at the base, a witness, Todd Boyle, said he heard gunshots and glanced out the window of his apartment to see a man clad all in black drop to the ground amid dust clouds raised by bullets striking the dirt near his feet.

"It was real crazy out there," said Boyle, a senior aircraft mechanic stationed at Fairchild. "There was a lot of screaming and people were ducking behind cars. A medic dove into a Dumpster for cover."

Another witness, Rebecka Vanover, said, "I kept hearing these popping noises. They sounded almost like firecrackers but they were dull. It was really a madhouse . . . People were running all over the place. Kids were screaming. Sirens were going off. Police were breaking windows at the annex. I've never seen so many helicopters overhead." She lives in a base housing area across the street from the hospital.

Fairchild Air Force Base, 10 miles west of Spokane, had been a bomber base since World War II. But in May, the last of the B-52s at Fairchild moved elsewhere as the base began conversion to an air-refueling base.

Major Candace Balmer, public-affairs officer at Fairchild, said the hospital is considered part of the base but is not within the secure area and typically does not have military police stationed at the entrance.

The hospital is used extensively by retired military people in the area as well as by people employed by the base.

The hospital annex, which houses the base's psychiatric hospital, is about 1,000 yards from the closest base checkpoint. The hospital complex is bordered on two sides by base housing.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Christine Whalen, Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times is included in this report. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shooting victims

Last night, hospital and base spokespersons gave the following information:

Deaconess Medical Center: Eight admitted, four in critical condition, three satisfactory, one stable. All suffered gunshot wounds. They are:

-- A 25-year-old female, critical.

-- A 42-year-old male, critical.

-- A 4-year-old male, critical.

-- A 37-year-old female, critical.

-- A 25-year-old female, satisfactory.

-- A 63-year-old female, satisfactory.

-- A 12-year-old male, satisfactory.

-- A 64-year-old male, stable, transferred from Fairchild.

Valley Hospital & Medical Center: Three admitted, two critical, one stable. All suffered gunshot wounds to the lower extremities: They are:

-- A 57-year-old woman, critical, taken to surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.

-- A 69-year-old man, stable, admitted to the progressive care unit.

-- A 15-year-old female, critical, taken to surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.

Sacred Heart Medical Center: Three admitted, two critical, one satisfactory. All suffered gunshot wounds and underwent surgery. They are:

-- A 40-year-old woman, critical.

-- A 5-year-old girl, critical.

-- A 35-year-old man, satisfactory.

Holy Family Hospital: Five admitted, two critical, one serious, two stable. All suffered gunshot wounds. They are:

-- Two men in their 70s.

-- One woman in her 70s.

-- One man in his 60s.

-- One woman in her 30s.

Individual injuries and conditions not immediately available.

Fairchild Air Force Base Hospital: Two people treated and released. Details not immediately available.