A TIKTOK video that appeared to show an Army specialist pointing a gun at a fellow soldier sparked a formal investigation.
In the 17-second video, which also circulated on Twitter, a soldier raises his hands as a comrade points a loaded M9 9mm pistol at his chest.
“What are you doing, Sergeant?” he can be heard asking the armed solider, a look of terror on his face.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.”
Kyle Benton, the specialist whose face is seen in the video, told Military.com that the video was staged.
He claimed the gun was loaded with dummy rounds.
Benton said the video was made more than a year ago, and that he waited to post it on TikTok until his Army contract finished in June.
The video sparked a formal investigation, a spokesperson from the Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Drum, New York, confirmed to Military.com.
“U.S. Army soldiers are trained from the first day in Basic Training to respect all firearms,” base spokesman Maj. Harold Huff III said.
“Military service is a sacred profession, and this horrific video does not represent our values.”
But an investigation was not able to identify the other person in the video, with Benton refusing to co-operate.
The now former Army specialist said he “will never reveal the person who was holding” the gun.
“I just want people to stop thinking I was the person holding the gun so they can stop threatening me,” he said.
