Charlottesville murder suspect James Alex Fields Jr., attended basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2015, but was released after he "failed to meet training standards," officials said.
Fields is the 20-year-old Ohio man police said was behind the wheel of the Dodge Challenger that slammed into counter-protesters Saturday afternoon in downtown Charlottesville, Va., killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, smashing into two other vehicles and throwing other victims into the air.
According to a statement from United States Army officials at Fort Benning:
"The Army can confirm that James Alex Fields reported for basic military training in August of 2015. He was, however, released from active duty due to a failure to meet training standards in December of 2015. As a result, he was never awarded a military occupational skill nor was he assigned to a unit outside of basic training."
Fields has been charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failure to stop following an accident resulting in death in connection with the incident Saturday afternoon.
He remains in custody in the Albermarle-Charlottesville County Regional Jail.
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