Friends recall airman killed in Mexico

HOLLOMAN AFB, N.M. (KRQE-KBIM) - A welcoming mural calls Holloman Air Force Base 'The Friendliest Place on Earth,' but the mood beyond the gates Thursday reflected the loss of a popular airman gunned down in Mexico.

"Somber," said Senior Master Sgt. Will Cisna said. "We are all missing Sgt. Booher. He was a friendly guy

“People are still in shock," added Lt. Col. Dana M. Adams. "It's just very hard to believe."

Air Force Staff Sgt. David Booher, 26, was shot and killed when gunmen burst into a strip club in Cíudad Juarez and began shooting Wednesday morning. He was reportedly giving medical attention to a shooting victim in the club when he was gunned down.

Six people died in the shooting linked to the ongoing turf war between rival drug gangs in the border city across from El Paso, Texas. The same day four men were lined up against a school wall south of Juarez and executed, and two more murders were reported early in the evening.

Booher, a native of Chicago, had family in El Paso and Juarez. He had ignored an Air Force policy restricting airmen from visiting border cities in Mexico.

Booher joined the Air Force in 2001 and was part of the ambulance staff at Holloman.

At Holloman he was a part of the ambulance staff. Adams described Booher as "very charismatic, very cheerful, and an excellent, hard worker."

Booher even competed in a competition for emergency-medical technicians at Cannon Air Force Base using it to help train and mentor new airmen.

"He was my lead guy going in, going up there," Cisna said. "He was the experience we had.

"He took the three individuals up there. They performed excellent, and we ended up with a second-place finish out of eight."

The 49th Medical Group says it will be tough to fill his shoes.

"I can't see in the future him not being remembered by folks here," Cisna continued. "Even when we leave this base and go to other bases, he'll be remembered."

Holloman officials said a memorial is being planned for next week although details are not yet ready to be released.