The Army says an assault rifle that apparently originated in Iraq, was brought to Fort Lewis and later removed from the local post was not a functioning weapon.

The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is officially still investigating the chrome-plated, AK-47 assault rifle, bearing Saddam Hussein’s likeness, that was turned into Lakewood Police in early December.

Investigators consider the weapon “demilitarized,” meaning someone welded a metal slug into the barrel and removed the firing mechanism.

The Army investigated and determined it was appropriately processed as a “military museum artifact,” according to Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Kubistek.

“How it got off post is still under investigation,” he said today.

Lakewood police Lt. Heidi Hoffman said a soldier turned in the weapon, which has a white-colored stock, to the department Dec. 4. The soldier wanted police to “take custody and destroy it,” Hoffman said today.

Normally, the department would direct that such a weapon be turned into military police, but a front-desk person mistakenly accepted it, she said. After police examined the gun, they turned it into the Army on Dec. 8.

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The Associated Press is reporting a Lakewood resident is to appear in a military court at Fort Bragg, N.C., to face premeditated murder charges.

Master Sgt. Timothy B. Hennis was recalled from 2004 retirement. He's accused of killing Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and her two young daughters in 1985, the AP reports. He had been convicted in North Carolina state court, but his sentence was overturned on appeal.

More here.

A Fort Lewis-based soldier was honored yesterday at a national All-American game for high school football players, Newsday reports.

Sgt. John Gaylord received a Bronze Star during the first of his two Iraq tours, the Long Island, N.Y., paper wrote. “Because the soldier who was to serve as the brigade's military intelligence analyst was sent on a different mission, Gaylord, without formal training, took the job three pay grades above his rank,” the article said.

More than 90 soldiers mentored the high schoolers during the week leading up to the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

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