A U.S. Army sergeant from Illinois who was killed in last week's shooting in Fort Hood, Texas, was buried Saturday in the Missouri town where he went to high school and met his wife.
Sgt. Timothy Owens, originally from Effingham, Ill., was among three soldiers killed April 2 when a gunman fired on the military base. Sixteen others were wounded before the gunman committed suicide. The 37-year-old Owens, who served in Iraq and Kuwait, was buried in Rolla, Mo., where he lived in the 1990s.
The Rolla Daily News reported that as many as 75 motorcyclists from the Rolla Patriot Guard Riders accompanied the casket before the service at Rolla's First Baptist Church and afterward, to Lake Springs Cemetery in rural Phelps County.
As the casket left the church, Patriot Guard Riders, law enforcement officers and residents lined the sidewalk outside and saluted.
Rolla resident Bill Dobkins, a member of the Rolla Patriot Guard Riders, said he was once a neighbor of Owens' wife and babysat for her.
"They were like family," Dobkins said of the former Billie Humphrey's family.
Taking part in the escort was a "real honor" and a "humbling experience," Dobkins said.
Local
Owens' mother, Mary Louise Muntean, said she called Owens' wife when she first saw news of the shooting on TV. She was initially told her son was in the hospital, but later learned the terrible news that he had passed.
"I can't believe this has happened. I just can't. I just talked to him Sunday night," Muntean said.
Owens had recently remarried and was the father of two teens.
Muntean said she always worried that her son would get hurt when he was stationed in places like Kuwait, but never dreamed he'd be a victim of violence on home soil.
"I'm very proud of him because he was fighting for our country," Muntean said.
The governors of both Illinois and Missouri have ordered flags flown at half-staff for Owens.
The Fort Hood gunman was identified as Spc. Ivan Antonio Lopez, 34. There was a wake Friday for Lopez in Puerto Rico. A family spokesman said he was scheduled to be buried Saturday in his hometown of Guayanilla.
