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29 March 2024

Wife stages shooting to avoid deployment

Published
By AP

A woman trying to avoid an Air Force deployment to Asia had her husband shoot her before lying to investigators that an intruder was to blame, Bossier City police said.

Mark Natale, a police spokesman, said Staff Sgt. Judy Groomes, 25, was treated for wounds on both of her legs from one round from a handgun fired by her husband, Staff Sgt. Christopher Tyquan Groomes, 26. Both are active military based at nearby Barksdale Air Force Base.

Maj. Bryan Purtell, 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs officer, said Judy Groomes is assigned to the 2nd Logistics Squadron Inbound Receiving Section, and was scheduled to deploy to Southwest Asia in the coming months. Groomes' husband is assigned to the 548th Combat Training Squadron. Both have been at Barksdale for nearly four years, he said.

Police said Groomes allegedly claimed an intruder shot her at about 3 a.m. Friday while her husband and two children slept. But police said an investigation found that she convinced her husband to shoot her to avoid military service.

Christopher Groomes was arrested on a gun charge and was booked into the parish jail. Judy Groomes was issued a summons on a criminal mischief charge for allegedly filing a false police report.

It was not immediately known if either had an attorney.

"The Air Force takes all allegations of misconduct against its Airmen seriously," Purtell said in a statement. "We are cooperating fully with local law enforcement and continue to work with local authorities during the investigation, but since the matter is ongoing, we cannot comment further on the police investigation."

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