I'm always good for a crazed shooter story. But it's rare when the article, almost as an aside, reveals that this year's Marine of the Year was a mortician. Sadly, he was probably the hardest-working Marine in Iraq.

Decorated Marine opened fire on noisy crowd
By Associated Press
Sunday, August 14, 2005

LAWRENCE, Mass. - A Lawrence man who was named ``Marine of the Year'' last month is charged with firing a shotgun at a crowd of revelers outside his second-floor apartment, wounding two people.

Thirty-three-year-old Daniel Cotnoir allegedly fired a bullet at the crowd only minutes after he called police to complain about the noise they were making as they left a nearby nightclub and restaurant early Saturday.

The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reports that a 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were injured by bullet fragments from the shooting.

Cotnoir was arrested and held on $100,000 bail. He was to be arraigned tomorrow on attempted murder charges.

Last month, the Marine Corps Times presented Cotnoir with its annual Marine of the Year award. He beat out 180,000 other candidates for the honor.

Cotnoir, now a Marine reservist, was a military mortician in Iraq. During his deployment last year, he was responsible for preparing soldiers for open-casket funerals.