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Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Copter Suspect Had Sniper Skills

By Carolyn Carlson
Journal Staff Writer
    A West Side man arrested on suspicion of shooting down a Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department helicopter apparently had the skills to do it— he is a former Marine Corps marksmanship instructor who served and was wounded in Afghanistan, court records show.
    Jason Kerns, 29, who described himself to police as a "sniper" just after the chopper crashed on Aug. 6 on the edge of the Paradise Hills golf course, is a former lance corporal who was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2001. He served as a helicopter mechanic and range coach marksmanship instructor, according to an arrest warrant.
    Kerns was arrested late Monday on charges of assault with intent to commit a violent felony upon a peace officer, criminal damage to property and tampering with evidence, according to an arrest warrant and criminal complaint.
    Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said federal charges could be filed as well.
    The helicopter's pilot had a severe injury to his leg and was peppered with shrapnel. The deputy riding with him was not injured.
    The crash, about 15 feet from the back wall of a house, destroyed the helicopter.
    White said he could not comment on whether Kerns admitted to the allegations or if he has hired an attorney.
    According to the arrest warrant:
    Kerns approached deputies at the crash site, saying he saw the helicopter go down and had heard a gunshot immediately before the incident.
    Kerns said his dog was upset and barking, so he went to the edge of his fence to see what was bothering it. He said he watched the helicopter circle to see why it was there. Kerns said he became annoyed by the sound because the helicopter was there for so long— about eight minutes.
    He said he wanted to call and complain but could not see the helicopter's identification numbers.
    Kerns told deputies he watched from his backyard as the helicopter hovered over the Desert Greens Golf Course, then he heard a loud pop to the north of his home. He told deputies "the pilot had almost no time to auto gyro and I watched the helicopter go down."
    Kerns also said that he would be able to "make that shot" at that distance with "no problem" and that he "was a Marine sniper." Later he said "the helicopter was a great target."
    Kerns' father told investigators that he heard his son say someone had shot a helicopter down. His father also said Kerns told him that he helped the pilot and co-pilot out of the helicopter, but this turned out to be untrue.
    Investigators at the scene said Kerns' account of what had occurred was "not solid and was misleading."
    Investigators also said that after canvassing the Kerns' neighborhood, no one other than Kerns heard a gunshot in the area. Investigators said Kerns would not have been able to see the crash site from his yard, but yet he said he drove directly to it.
    Investigators said they were suspicious because Kerns could not pinpoint where the gunshot originated, even though his military training should have allowed him to.
    When members of the Sheriff's Department and APD's SWAT team initially searched Kerns' property the night of the crash, they found multiple Marine Corps manuals and empty ammunition cans scattered about.
    On Aug. 9, undercover deputies began to watch Kerns. Deputies reported that when they tried to follow him in his Chevrolet Corvette, he attempted to lose them by traveling a circuitous route at more than 100 miles an hour.
    That same day, deputies and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents served a search warrant on Kerns' residence.
    They reported finding several firearms including a 30-06 rifle, ammunition, a silencer and a fired 30-06 caliber casing wrapped in masking tape inside a trash can.
    Investigators were able to approximate the distance from which the rifle was fired to the helicopter and found Kerns' home to be within that space. They also found that a bullet fired from a 30-06 rifle could easily hit something within that distance. They said the distance is within what the Marine Corps said Kerns was trained to shoot at man-sized targets.
    In addition, bullet fragments found in the pilot's leg and his left seat belt match the 30-06 ammunition found in Kerns' residence, according to investigators.
    According to Albuquerque Police Department records, Kerns has attempted suicide four times. Kerns is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $1.8 million cash-only bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today in front of Metropolitan Court Judge Frank Gentry. Kerns was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, but it was rescheduled because Kerns reportedly was uncooperative.