A Bishop Dwenger graduate and Navy SEAL is being held in a military prison in California, where he is fighting charges he committed war crimes in Iraq last year.

Eddie Gallagher was charged this month with several crimes, including allegedly stabbing to death an Islamic State fighter, according to the Navy Times. The newspaper reported he and about a dozen other SEALs are accused of committing crimes while in Iraq between 2017 and this year.

Citing leaked court documents that had been sealed by a military judge, the newspaper reported Gallagher – a sniper – faces other charges for allegedly shooting two “noncombatants” last year and obstructing justice by participating in an effort to cover up the crimes.

He also is charged with abusing a controlled substance while on deployment, according to the Virginia-based paper.

Gallagher is the only person who has been jailed in the case, according to an Oct. 23 story in the Navy Times. He is being held at Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in San Diego.

A call to his attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, in San Diego, was not returned Monday.

Gallagher's friends in Fort Wayne said Monday he was seeking treatment for brain injuries he suffered during combat when he was arrested by Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents. The Navy Times reported he was arrested Sept. 11 at a facility for service members with traumatic brain injury.

Jessica Zimmerman, a licensed mental health counselor who runs the Willow Center for Healing, said she met Gallagher in high school – she at North Side and he at Dwenger. She is working to organize a fundraiser to pay for legal fees and to help Gallagher's family – his wife, Fort Wayne native Andrea, and three children – in Florida.

He is not the man portrayed in court documents and news reports, Zimmerman said.

“Big heart,” she said of Gallagher. “He would do anything for anybody. He was a trustworthy, kind, good guy. His bio is impeccable. He is so decorated.”

Gallagher enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and served eight combat tours, according to a biography posted on the website of the Navy SEALs Fund, an Ohio-based charity that is accepting donations for him. The group calls his case “a travesty of justice” and lists several commendations for his service.

“On Patriots (sic) Day Sept. 11, 2018, Chief Eddie Gallagher, while undergoing TBI treatment was shackled like a common criminal and taken from in-patient care treatment facility at NICoE Pendleton,” a statement on the nonprofit's website states. “Chief Gallagher was held in solitary confinement while remaining shackled for 72 hours and has now been in jail for over a month on pretrial confinement.”

Jamie Mickelson said she's known Andrea Gallagher since they both attended Northrop High School. Mickelson said Monday she flew last year to visit her friend in Florida, and the trip was interrupted by NCIS agents at the family's home.

“It was, she said, horrific,” Mickelson said. “Faith is the thing getting her through everything.”

The Navy Times report includes allegations in court documents that say Gallagher stabbed the Islamic State fighter in the body and neck May 3, 2017, in Mosul, Iraq. He then allegedly posed for a photograph next to the body, and opted to “complete his reenlistment ceremony next to a human casualty,” the story said.

Zimmerman and Mickelson said they are discussing plans for the fundraiser with friends and others who know the Gallaghers. No plans have been finalized, they said.

For information on how to donate, email Zimmerman at jzimmermanlmhc@gmail.com.

mleblanc@jg.net