JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Metro) -- A U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing five American servicemen in Iraq is being arraigned today.
Sergeant John Russell is accused of going on a shooting spree at Camp Liberty, near the Baghdad airport, in May of 2009.
After the shootings the military said Russell might have been set off by combat stress.
He faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of attempted murder, and one charge of aggravated assault.
Russell is being arraigned at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.
He could be sentenced to death if he's found guilty.
Russell's attorney wrote in a memo earlier this year that Russell is "facing death because the Army's mental health system failed him."
An Army colonel who presided over a preliminary hearing at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas earlier this year called the death penalty "inappropriate" punishment for Russell.
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