Afghan shooter was from Washington Stryker brigade, AP source

The U.S. soldier suspected of gunning down at least 16 Afghan civilians was from a Washington state-based Stryker brigade and received his assignment to a village stability program less than six weeks ago.

A congressional source tells The Associated Press that the staff sergeant deployed to Afghanistan on Dec. 3 with the 3rd Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord located south of Seattle.

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The soldier's name has not been released. But the source says he was attached Feb. 1 to the village stability program in Belambai, half a mile from one of the villages where the attack took place. The soldier is now in pretrial confinement.