One Shot, One Kill: The American Sniper

Bradley Cooper is the American Sniper.

Bradley Cooper is the American Sniper.

Griffin Noerenberg, Staff Reporter

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) takes his sole mission–protect his comrades–to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saved countless lives but also made him a prime target of many insurgents.

Despite putting himself in grave danger and struggling to be a good husband and father to his family back in the states, Kyle served four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

He was America’s most prolific marksman, a U.S. navy Seal and Iraq veteran whose pinpoint accuracy during battles in Ramadi and Fallujah earned him the nickname “al-Shaitan” – “the Devil” – among insurgents who put a bounty on him.

Bradley Cooper stars as the “American Sniper”, Chris Kyle. Sienna Miller plays Taya, Kyle’s wife. The film is based on the autobiography from Kyle. The director, Clint Eastwood, does an amazing job at remembering Kyle’s life which was tragically taken on Feb. 2 2013 American Sniper received a seven and a half stars out of ten on IMDB.

American Sniper was a very powerful movie and it makes viewers thankful for the men and women who risk their lives for our country.

Kyle was shot and killed at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range in Erath County, Texas. The suspected shooter is 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Eddie Ray Routh, whom Kyle and Littlefield had taken to the shooting range to try and help him cope with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Local police captured Routh after a short freeway chase, which ended when Routh, who had left the scene of the shootings in Kyle’s Ford F-350 truck, crashed into a police cruiser in Lancaster, Texas. Erath County sheriffs said the motive for the killing was unclear.

Routh was arraigned Feb. 2, 2013, on two counts of capital murder and was taken to the Erath County Jail for holding under a $3 million bond. His trial was set to begin May 5, 2014, but was delayed to allow more time to comply with DNA test requirements. The trial began on Feb. 11, 2015.