Looking back: Fairchild shootings

On June 20, 1994, former Airman Dean Mellberg opened fire at the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital, killing four people and wounding 23 before being shot dead by Air Force security officer Andy Brown. This gallery contains photos of the day, the community mourning and the wounded victims' recovery. Coming Sunday: Jim Camden talks with Andy Brown, the man who stopped Mellberg, about his struggles since the day of the shootings.

Section:Gallery

Thu., June 17, 2010

Medical crews move a shooting victim from an ambulance to a helicopter Monday, June 20, 1994, after a gunman opened fire at Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane. Dean Mellberg killed four people before being fatally shot. Twenty three others were wounded by the gunman, who was an airman at the base.

File Associated Press
Residents flee a Fairchild Air Force Base housing compound as police evacuate the area after the June 20, 1994, shootings.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
Children flee the housing compound inside Fairchild Air Force Base as police evacuate the area on June 20, 1994, after Dean Mellberg opened fire on the base.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
An Air Force security officer turns back residents from the housing area inside Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane on June 20, 1994.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
Emergency workers prepare to transport Sam Spencer, who was shot in Dean Mellberg's rampage inside the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital on June 20, 1994.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
Dean A. Mellberg, shown in this 1992 high school yearbook photo, killed four people and wounded 23 at Fairchild Air Force Base on Monday, June 20, 1994, before a military police officer shot him dead. He had been discharged from the Air Force for psychiatric problems and was formerly from Lansing, Mich.

Photo Archive The Spokesman-Review
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Andrew Brown, 24, appears in a 1994 family photo. Brown put an end to former Airman Dean Mellberg's killing spree at Fairchild Air Force Base by shooting Mellberg with at least two rounds, one between the eyes. Brown was awarded the Airman's Medal for his action.
Residents of military housing near the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital run to a neighboring house as they wait to be evacuated.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Three bullet holes are outlined by spray paint at the spot where Anita Lindner was killed June 20, 1994, outside the hospital at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Among Dean Mellberg's victims was Anita Lindner, a mother of three and Camp Fire leader who started a camp for children in Cheney.
Dr. Thomas Brigham, photographed in 1979, was among Dean Mellberg's victims. Brigham was raised in Mobile, Ala., and attended Purdue University and the University of South Alabama Medical School.
TV satellite trucks beam the news of the Fairchild shootings from a parking lot near a gate on Graham Road.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
92nd Air Refueling Wing Commander Col. William Brooks briefs the media on June 21, 1994, about the previous day's shootings at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Dan Pelle The Spokesman-Review
Master Sgt. James McIntire was among hundreds who waited two to three hours to give blood June 21, 1994, at the Inland Northwest Blood Center in response to the previous day's fatal shootings at Fairchild Air Force Base. Waiting anxiously, center, is Airman Chad Collier who said, "I did it for a little kid, and now I'm doing it for this. I just don't give up my life fluids for no reason ma'am."

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Spokane County sheriff's Detective Jim Hansen looks over the AK-47 assault rifle that was used by Dean Mellberg to kill four people and injure 23 people on June 20, 1994. The magazine holds 70 rounds.

Photo Archive The Spokesman-Review
Caroline Brigham, 9, and Billy Brigham, daughter and brother of slain psychiatrist Maj. Thomas Brigham, kneel after a heavily attended memorial for the victims of gunman Dean Mellberg on June 23, 1994. Billy Brigham eulogized his brother at the service at the Fairchild Air Force Base chapel.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Hundreds of mourners pour out of the Fairchild Air Force Base chapel after services for the victims of gunman Dean Mellberg on Thursday, June 23, 1994. Major Thomas Brigham, Capt. Alan London, Anita Lindner and Christin McCarron were eulogized during the 45-minute service.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Matt Lindner, 12, twists his tie as he talks about his mother, Anita Lindner, one of four people killed by Dean Mellberg on June 20, 1994, Monday at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Gladys Dunn leaves the Fairchild Air Force Base chapel after a memorial service for Dean Mellberg's victims, including her daughter, Anita Lindner.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
A few days after Dean Mellberg's shooting spree at Fairchild Air Force Base, Staff Sgt. Sue Conard points out the bloody spot in the grass where Mellberg fell after he was shot dead outside the hospital annex.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Candice Lindner traces the letters of her mother's name on the memorial dedicated at Fairchild Air Force Base in this August 1995 photo. Anita Lindner died in June 1994 during the Fairchild Hospital shooting tragedy. The memorial is dedicated to the victims from the B-52 accident and the hospital shootings.

Photo Archive The Spokesman-Review
Fairchild shooting victim Janessa Zucchetto, 5, leaves Sacred Heart Medical Center with her mother June 23, 1994.

Photo Archive The Spokesman-Review
Orson Lee, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, recovers at Deaconess Hospital after being hit by shrapnel during Dean Mellberg's shooting spree at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Christopher Anderson The Spokesman-Review
Mark Hess was shot through the thigh while diving to get away from Dean Mellberg on June 20, 1994, during Mellberg's shooting spree at Fairchild Air Force Base hospital. Hess was released from the Holy Family two days later.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Omer Karns, photographed in July 1994, was hit by one of the bullets Dean Mellberg unleashed at Fairchild Air Force Base three weeks earlier. Though still recovering from his wounds, Karns had returned to his work as a volunteer driver for the VA Medical Center.

Photo Archive The Spokesman-Review
Capt. James Singleterry, chief of laboratory services at Fairchild Air Force Base Hospital, was sitting at his desk when a young man burst in and hid under it during the Dean Mellberg shootings. Singleterry left his laboratory to bandage wounds and start IVs. "Everyone is crawling around on the floor because that's where the patients are. Supplies are being kicked and everyone's screaming for a pair of scissors." August 1994 photo.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Anthony Zucchetto, 4, photographed at home in August 1994, spent the summer after the Dean Mellberg shootings recuperating from a gunshot wound.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Sam Spencer, 12, was wounded in the Dean Mellberg shootings at Fairchild Air Force Base. He was readmitted to Deaconess in late July for a few days. Sam told a nurse, "I thought there were firecrackers coming out of the halls. Then my leg started bleeding."

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review
Dr. Daniel Coulston helped treat victims of the Dean Mellberg shootings at Deaconess Hospital. He was surprised to learn one of the wounded was a 4-year-old boy, Anthony Zucchetto. "I have had nightmares about that, his eyes looking at us," Coulston said. "It was like he knew everything that's happening."

Sandra Bancroft-Billings The Spokesman-Review