http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-bear16.html
Bears' ties to gun range probed
November 16, 2005BY MIKE MULLIGAN AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
Bears right tackle Fred Miller has been cleared by doctors and plans to play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, the player's agent said Tuesday.He no doubt is hoping his speedy return will end scrutiny of an embarrassing episode in which it was revealed that his fractured jaw was suffered during a fight with center Olin Kreutz and not in a household fall, as originally reported."He had a streak of 110 consecutive starts, and he wants to get back on the field, especially against a pass rush like the Carolina Panthers,'' agent Harold Lewis said.The Bears only can hope Miller's return also helps take a magnifying glass off the team's longstanding relationship with the FBI and an FBI gun range in North Chicago. Miller and Kreutz began the day that ended in the fight, Nov. 7, by attending a gun training program at the facility, according to several sources. They also began drinking at the facility while enjoying a barbecue with FBI instructors and agents attending a terrorist training program, the sources said.There was no combination whatsoever of drinking and gun use, the sources insisted, and the players attended a classroom session before going to the range and firing weapons. Machine guns, pistols and a sniper's rifle mounted on a tripod were described as typical of the type of weapons Bears employees have been trained on at the facility through the years.An FBI spokesman confirmed that about a dozen Bears players attended the controlled shoot as part of an annual liaison day between the FBI and the Bears that they've done for "a number of years.'' The FBI runs similar liaison shoots with other groups.One source said "just about every'' employee who has been through Halas Hall has been to the range at some point. Sources refused to confirm or deny that the fight took place at the facility but did say players were on their own with no FBI agents present.Miller and Kreutz had been rough-housing and were separated before the altercation, sources said. Miller was being led out a door when he turned around and went back to where Kreutz was standing.Kreutz struck Miller in the face when he approached, the sources said, and Miller went down. He responded by hitting Kreutz in the head with a five-pound weight, resulting in a cut that required 13 stitches to close. The players apparently concocted the story of the household fall in part to protect the FBI agent who had arranged for them to visit the range."We're still investigating where the incident itself happened between the two players'' and whether it was even on the premises, FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said. The inquiry is not a criminal investigation, he said."We just want to make sure there isn't anything we should change in our policies,'' he said. "We just have to explore if there's something we could have done differently.''Bochte said when the public is invited for these kind of days, there are many FBI personnel on the premises trained in range protocol."Liaison shoots are done in a very controlled and supervised manner,'' Bochte said.Alcohol is not allowed during the shooting, Bochte said. And if someone showed up to the range intoxicated, "We don't let them anywhere near a firearm, and that was the [protocol used] that day,'' he said.He declined to comment about details of activities once the shooting was completed, including whether alcohol was served.Contributing: Brad Biggs
I must have missed my invitation.
Bears' ties to gun range probed
November 16, 2005BY MIKE MULLIGAN AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
Bears right tackle Fred Miller has been cleared by doctors and plans to play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, the player's agent said Tuesday.He no doubt is hoping his speedy return will end scrutiny of an embarrassing episode in which it was revealed that his fractured jaw was suffered during a fight with center Olin Kreutz and not in a household fall, as originally reported."He had a streak of 110 consecutive starts, and he wants to get back on the field, especially against a pass rush like the Carolina Panthers,'' agent Harold Lewis said.The Bears only can hope Miller's return also helps take a magnifying glass off the team's longstanding relationship with the FBI and an FBI gun range in North Chicago. Miller and Kreutz began the day that ended in the fight, Nov. 7, by attending a gun training program at the facility, according to several sources. They also began drinking at the facility while enjoying a barbecue with FBI instructors and agents attending a terrorist training program, the sources said.There was no combination whatsoever of drinking and gun use, the sources insisted, and the players attended a classroom session before going to the range and firing weapons. Machine guns, pistols and a sniper's rifle mounted on a tripod were described as typical of the type of weapons Bears employees have been trained on at the facility through the years.An FBI spokesman confirmed that about a dozen Bears players attended the controlled shoot as part of an annual liaison day between the FBI and the Bears that they've done for "a number of years.'' The FBI runs similar liaison shoots with other groups.One source said "just about every'' employee who has been through Halas Hall has been to the range at some point. Sources refused to confirm or deny that the fight took place at the facility but did say players were on their own with no FBI agents present.Miller and Kreutz had been rough-housing and were separated before the altercation, sources said. Miller was being led out a door when he turned around and went back to where Kreutz was standing.Kreutz struck Miller in the face when he approached, the sources said, and Miller went down. He responded by hitting Kreutz in the head with a five-pound weight, resulting in a cut that required 13 stitches to close. The players apparently concocted the story of the household fall in part to protect the FBI agent who had arranged for them to visit the range."We're still investigating where the incident itself happened between the two players'' and whether it was even on the premises, FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said. The inquiry is not a criminal investigation, he said."We just want to make sure there isn't anything we should change in our policies,'' he said. "We just have to explore if there's something we could have done differently.''Bochte said when the public is invited for these kind of days, there are many FBI personnel on the premises trained in range protocol."Liaison shoots are done in a very controlled and supervised manner,'' Bochte said.Alcohol is not allowed during the shooting, Bochte said. And if someone showed up to the range intoxicated, "We don't let them anywhere near a firearm, and that was the [protocol used] that day,'' he said.He declined to comment about details of activities once the shooting was completed, including whether alcohol was served.Contributing: Brad Biggs
I must have missed my invitation.
