Soldier's Homecoming Turns Tragic

According to Suzanne Sullivan, her son recognized the risks of his job and accepted them. “But to see he survived that and now for this to happen to him, just breaks my heart,” she said.

The man accused of shooting the US Army soldier in San Bernardino, California, on December 23, 2011, turned himself in to authorities on Monday the 26th and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Thursday. Ruben Ray Jurado, 19, has been charged with one felony count of attempted premeditated murder and is being held on a one million dollar bail. He will return to court for a hearing on the ninth of January.


According to Sullivan's family, a fight about football erupted between Jurado and Sullivan's brother during the party. When Sullivan intervened on behalf of his brother he was shot twice, leaving him in critical condition.

Jurado's attorney, Michael J. Holmes, however, asserts that his client acted in self-defense. “It appears that he was being attacked and he was on the ground and was being kicked in the back, stomach, the head, and that is consistent with the injuries that I observed,” said Holmes. Furthermore, Holmes stated that Jurado and Sullivan had been friends since high school but that heavy drinking and the use of nitrous oxide at the party may have contributed to the events that transpired at the party.

Sullivan's family insists that a friendship never existed between the two men and have said that Jurado was an uninvited guest. His family does acknowledge that the two may have played football together while in school.

Sullivan, who had only nine months of military service left, intended to finish up his commitment and train as either a firefighter or a police officer. Immediately prior to going home he had been stationed in Kentucky where he was healing from the 2010 suicide bomb attack. Five members of Sullivan's unit were killed in the attack and he narrowly survived, suffering a cracked collar bone and brain damage.

Following the attack in Afghanistan, Sullivan was awarded the Purple Heart. He has also been honored with a Basic Airborne Badge, a National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal-Campaign Star, and the Army Service Ribbon.

Sullivan's 101st Airborne Division delivered the infantry's flag to him in the hospital and has provided support to both him and his family in the days following the attack.