Army veteran charged with killing one homeless man and attacking another

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. Army veteran who served in the Afghanistan war pepper-sprayed a homeless man in Memphis and got into an altercation with him before shooting him with an automatic rifle, a security guard and a police investigator said Tuesday.

The security guard and police sergeant testified during a preliminary hearing for Karl P. Loucks, who was arrested May 31 for the first-degree murder of Shaun Rhea, a homeless man from downtown Memphis. After hearing their testimony, Shelby County Judge Bill Anderson said there was enough evidence to present the case to a grand jury for indictment.

Loucks, 41, is being held without bail on a murder charge. Loucks’ attorney has suggested he acted in self-defense. Loucks also faces aggravated assault charges after police say he stabbed another homeless man twice in the days before Rhea was shot. Loucks has not admitted to either charge.

Loucks attacked Rhea in downtown Memphis in the early morning hours of May 31, police said in an affidavit. Tony Perry, a security guard at a downtown Memphis hotel, testified he saw Loucks use pepper spray on Rhea while she was sleeping. Loucks also pepper-sprayed other homeless people that same night, Perry said.

After being pepper-sprayed, Rhea confronted Loucks, asking him why he did it and “called him the B-word,” Perry said. Loucks pulled out a knife, and Rhea picked up a nearby electric scooter and threw it at Loucks. He missed.

“He was angry,” Perry said of Rhea, adding that Rhea did not try to physically assault Loucks.

Loucks then entered his residence, but returned shortly thereafter with an AR rifle under an orange jacket, Perry testified.

“And then all of a sudden I heard gunshots,” said Perry, who said he turned and ran away when several shots rang out.

Rhea, who was not carrying a weapon, was shot in the back, Memphis police Sergeant Jeremy Cline testified. Rhea died in the hospital. Six shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting, Cline said.

Police were called and found the gun and jacket in Loucks’ apartment, Cline said. During a police interview after his arrest, Loucks said he acted in self-defense after Rhea confronted him, Cline said.

Cline said he asked Loucks why he didn’t call the police.

“He said he didn’t do it because he felt threatened,” the police sergeant said.

During the hearing, Cline showed a video of the shooting to the judge, defense attorney, prosecutor and Loucks. Relatives and supporters of Loucks and Rhea were in the courtroom but were unable to view the video.

Loucks was a health specialist in the Army from September 2007 to August 2013, said Bryce S. Dubee, an Army press secretary. Loucks served in Afghanistan from March 2009 to March 2010 and left the Army with the rank of private first class.

Loucks was honorably discharged from the Army because he was disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder, said his attorney, Blake Ballin. Outside court, Ballin said he was working on a psychological evaluation to determine if and how Loucks’ mental health played a role in the shooting.

“If someone in Mr. Loucks’ situation, with his past experiences, his experiences with these events, reasonably felt that he feared for his life or his physical safety, then his actions may have been justified,” Ballin said.

The hearing took place in a courtroom used for war veterans’ cases. Banners from various military branches hang on the back wall of the courtroom.

Judge Anderson said he could not help but believe that Loucks’ experience in the Army during the war might play a role in the case.

“Some cases make no sense at all, no logical sense,” Anderson said. “This is one of them.”

Memphis police spokeswoman Theresa Carlson said Tuesday that investigators were trying to determine whether there were other altercations involving homeless people in addition to the stabbing, which police said occurred on May 25.