The former top Navy SEAL sniper who authorities say was killed at a Texas shooting range was devoted to maintaining camaraderie and helping his fellow veterans find their way after leaving active duty. 
 
 This photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff’s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh. He was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book “American Sniper”, Chris Kyle poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield apparently were doing just that Saturday when, officials say, they were shot and killed by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh. 
 
 Kyle, 38, had left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. But he quickly found a way to maintain contact with his fellow veterans and pass on what had helped him work through his own struggles. By late 2011, he filed the paperwork to establish the nonprofit FITCO Cares, which received its nonprofit status the following spring, said FITCO director Travis Cox. 
 
 "Chris struggled with some things," Cox said. "He'd been through a lot and he handled it with grace, but yeah he did struggle with some things. And he found a healthy outlet and was proactive in his approach to deal with those issues and wanted to help spread his healing, what worked for him, to others. And that's what he died doing." 
 
 For Kyle that healthy outlet was exercise. At the heart of FITCO was giving in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans, as well as families who had lost a veteran, Cox said. 
 
 Littlefield, a 35-year-old friend and neighbor, was Kyle's "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said. He was married and had children as well. 
 
 "He's a very gentle, sweet-hearted man, just a great man, kind of quiet," Cox said of Littlefield. "He just really cared. ... He wanted to do whatever he could to help veterans and help see that vision of serving others that Chris had. He shared that vision with all of us. He was a great man." 
 
 Cox said he understood that Kyle and Littlefield were helping Routh work through his own PTSD, but that he did not know how they came into contact. He said it was not a FITCO session. 
 
 Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant on Sunday offered a similar description of the situation. 
 
 "It's my understanding that the suspect may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself," he said of Routh. 
 
 He said Routh's mother may have reached out to Kyle for help with her son. 
 
 "We kind of have an idea that maybe that's why they were at the range for some type of therapy that Mr. Kyle assists people with," Bryant said. 
 
 Bryant didn't know whether Routh was on any medication or whether he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. 
 
 Authorities say the three men arrived at the Rough Creek Lodge southwest of Fort Worth around 3:15 p.m. Saturday. A hunting guide discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield around 5 p.m. and called 911. 
 
 Routh allegedly left in Kyle's pickup and went to his sister's in Midlothian. He told what he had done and left. She called police and Routh was eventually found at his home in Lancaster. After a short pursuit he was arrested. 
 
 Routh was being held on $3 million bail in the Erath County Jail. Authorities said they believed he had requested a court-appointed attorney. Calls to his home were not answered Sunday. 
 
 Kyle was also president of a security training firm Craft International. Craft had scheduled a $2,950-per-person civilian training event at Rough Creek Lodge called the "Rough Creek Shoot Out!" for March 1-3. The price included lodging, meals and shooting instruction. Kyle was scheduled to teach the first class, called "precision rifle." 
 
 But the work with veterans through FITCO was Kyle's passion, Cox said. 
 
 FITCO Cares offered life coaching for veterans, a daily support group and weekly group counseling. Sometimes veterans in other states would video conference in to counseling sessions, Cox said. 
 
 Kyle was always recognized at events, but would deflect attention to other veterans, quickly introducing and praising those around him. 
 
 "That camaraderie is usually missed once the veteran gets out of the military," said Cox, himself a former Marine sniper. "The authentic relationships that you develop in the military, especially overseas and in combat are some of the most meaningful, authentic relationships that one can have and it's missed. And so we tried to create a means through this group of veterans that can gather and talk about things that they're dealing with." 
 
 "He (Kyle) didn't have any fear at all as far as working with an extreme case," Cox said. "Just like in combat he would take it on head on and do whatever he could to give these guys assistance. There was no fear in helping anyone that may have an extreme case. He was willing to help anyone in need." 
 
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 Christopher Sherman contributed reporting from McAllen, Texas. ||||| Former Navy Seals Sniper Chris Kyle, is pictured in this handout photo from Harper Collins. Kyle, the former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper who was responsible for 160 kills during his career as U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, was shot and killed with another man at a gun range on February 2,... 
 
 The cover of American Sniper, written by Navy Seals Sniper Chris Kyle, is pictured in this handout photo from Harper Collins. Kyle, the former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper who was responsible for 160 kills during his career as U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, was shot and killed with another... 
 
 Eddie Ray Routh is pictured in this booking photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff’s Office. Routh is a suspect in the shooting and killing of former Navy SEAL Sniper Chris Kyle. 
 
 The man accused of gunning down former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, a prominent military sniper, and a second man at a Texas shooting range has been arraigned on two counts of capital murder, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Sunday. 
 
 Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was accused of killing Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, a neighbor of Kyle, on Saturday afternoon at the Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the department said. 
 
 "They were shot at close range," said department spokesman Sergeant Lonny Haschel said. 
 
 Kyle, considered one of America's deadliest snipers after killing 160 people during his career as U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, wrote the book "American Sniper" about his military service from 1999 to 2009. 
 
 Routh, described in local media reports as a former Marine who suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), was arrested at his Lancaster, Texas home several hours after the shooting, having led police on a chase in his pickup truck. 
 
 "He was taken into custody after a brief pursuit," Haschel said. 
 
 According to a posting on a website run by members of the Special Operations Forces community, Kyle had been volunteering his time to help Marine Corps veterans suffering from PTSD and mentoring them. 
 
 "Part of this process involved taking these veterans to the range," said the posting on SOFREP.com. 
 
 WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the two men had taken Routh to the shooting range for the day to help him deal with his PTSD. 
 
 Routh was arraigned at the Lancaster municipal jail on Saturday on two counts of capital murder, a spokesman for the department of public safety said. The Erath County Sheriff's Office planned a news conference later on Sunday. 
 
 "It just comes as a shock and it's staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed" in Iraq, Scott McEwen, who wrote the book with Kyle, told Reuters. 
 
 Kyle served four combat tours of duty in Iraq and elsewhere, and he won two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars for bravery, according to his book. 
 
 After leaving the Navy, Kyle founded Craft International, a firm that provided combat and weapons training to military, police, corporate and civilian clients. 
 
 Kyle is the co-author of another book coming out in May titled "American Gun - A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms." 
 
 In the wake of the slayings of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in December, Kyle was interviewed in January about rising calls for curbing U.S. gun violence. He told the website guns.com he favored arming teachers who have been screened and trained and spoke against restrictions on gun owners. 
 
 (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Will Dunham)
– The former Navy SEAL sniper shot dead alongside a friend at a Texas shooting range yesterday appears to have been killed by a troubled Iraq War veteran he was trying to help, authorities say. Travis Cox, director of a nonprofit veterans' organization that American Sniper author Chris Kyle helped found, says Kyle and his friend were helping Eddie Ray Routh deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, the AP reports. Routh, 25, has been charged with both murders. Kyle "served this country with extreme honor, but came home and was a servant leader in helping his brothers and sisters dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder," Cox tells the New York Times. "Everyone has their own inner struggles, but he was very proactive about the things he was dealing with." The local sheriff says Routh's mother may have reached out to Kyle for help with her son. Investigators, who believe Routh killed both men with a semi-automatic handgun, say he has not made any comments that would indicate a motive.