A fighter-pilot instructor at Sheppard Air Force Base who faced sexual-assault charges was found dead at the Texas installation Tuesday, one day after an investigative team arrived to examine how commanders have responded to a series of reported rapes.
Although Sheppard officials declined to divulge details about Staff Sgt. Edmund Ehring’s death, his attorney says she believes it is being investigated as a suicide.
An Air Force spokesman declined to say whether the 35-year- old Ehring, who faced allegations he had assaulted a 12-year-old girl in his home off base, had been interviewed by members of the Air Force investigative panel, saying “there was no connection” with the panel’s work.
“His death is being investigated, and we won’t be able to release any information until the coroner’s report is released” after several days, said Maj. Manning Brown, a Sheppard spokesman.
Brig. Gen. Arthur Rooney Jr., who heads the bulk of training operations at Sheppard, released a statement saying, “The loss of any airman is felt by every member at Team Sheppard. Our prayers and thoughts are with the family of Staff Sgt. Ehring.”
Ehring, a member of the 365th Training Squadron, was found in a dormitory room on the base. He was facing aggravated sexual-assault charges, said Dorie Glickman, a Wichita Falls lawyer who represented him. He had been released from jail on bond, she said.
The Air Force’s largest training base, near Wichita Falls, is under intense scrutiny by Congress after The Denver Post reported Feb. 11 that First Step Inc., a local rape- crisis center, had handled more than two dozen sexual-assault reports in a year’s span involving women stationed at Sheppard, most of them trainees. Five of those cases were gang rapes, according to First Step.
Following the report, the Air Force, acting on a request from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, sent a “review team” of more than 15 Air Force personnel to examine how the base addresses sexual-assault reports.
Glickman wants a thorough investigation into Ehring’s death.
“The last time I talked with him was early last week,” Glickman said. “I don’t know whether he met with the Air Force investigators. His case was still under investigation by police with Wichita Falls. He said his command was very concerned in general about how he was taking the stress.”
Denver Post staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 .
