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Posted: 2/20/2006 3:41:36 PM EDT
Firearm Inside Overturned Truck Discharges, Killing Virignia State Trooper
Updated: February 19th, 2006 09:25 PM EDT E-mail Story Print Story Most Read Most Emailed Trooper Kevin C. Manion 9 News, WUSA Reprinted with Permission Trooper Kevin C. Manion was killed in the line of duty Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2006 in a shooting in Clarke County. “This is a tremendous loss shared by every member of our Department,” Colonel W. Steven Flaherty said in a state police news release. “Our hearts and prayers are with the Manion family as they come to terms with the devastating loss of a beloved son and brother.” Trooper Manion, 27, joined the Virginia State Police in October 2002 and graduated June 6, 2003 as a member of the 104th Basic Session. His first patrol assignment was Prince William County. Trooper Manion transferred to the Virginia State Police Area 13 Office in Winchester in July 2005 and was assigned to Warren County. Trooper Manion is a native of Millboro in Bath County. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg and an associate’s degree in education from Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge. The circumstances surrounding Trooper Manion’s death are still under investigation by the Virginia State Police and Clarke County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting state police at the scene were the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and City of Winchester Police Department. The shooting incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on Route 649 in Clarke County following a single-vehicle crash involving a Ford Ranger pickup truck that had run off the road and overturned onto its side. As the damaged pickup truck was being moved, a firearm inside it discharged and Trooper Manion was struck in the chest. The other trooper on scene was not injured. |
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You got that right. Absolutely freakish............firearm discharging.........trooper in line of fire...........very sad. |
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You would definitely have a better chance of being struck by lightning. Getting hit by a meteor couldn't be that far behind...
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wow. That's hard to believe. The odds of that happening are like winning the powerball twice in a row. Very sad though, that poor guy had terrible luck
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have to have been a fairly old weapon to discharge without someone pulling the trigger. Then again maybe something got wedged in the trigger guard an pressed against the trigger.
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Did it miss/penetrate his vest? Damn, that is a crappy way to check out.
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Damn that sucks. Definitely a freak accident. My condolences to his family.
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Not so at all. A great many of todays long guns have "safeties" that block only the rearward movement of the trigger. If a round is chambered and the weapon gets a hard knock in the right place by being dropped or banged around, the hammer or striker can be released and the weapon will fire while the safety is still in the "on" position. This was a freak incident, but the discharge was not as uncommon as you may think. RIP Trooper |
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Wow, that's sad.
Strange, a jostle and something snagging the trigger is my guess. GM |
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I live in Richmond VA and heard it on the radio. I call BS on the gun just "discharging". Thats like saying Cheney was 30 yards away!
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It's also possible that one of the Troopers mishandled the weapon and had an ND with it while searching the vehicle. Sad.
It's BS that they appear to be wanting to charge the occupants for something that happened while they were cuffed in a squad car. But not suprising. |
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"was it a glock?"
they haven't said yet if it was a long gun or handgun. "i thought that there was a law against carrying a loaded weapon in vehicles here in VA (i'll have to do some research)." The carrying of any concealed firearm by a person about his person, hid from common observation, is prohibited. Exceptions to this prohibition include: 1. carrying in one`s place of abode or the curtilage thereof. 2. any regularly enrolled member of a target shooting organization who is at, or going to or from, an established shooting range, provided that the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported. 3. any regularly enrolled member of a weapons collection organization who is at, or going to or from, a bonafide weapons exhibition, provided the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported. 4. any person carrying such weapons between his place of abode and a place of purchase or repair, provided the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported. if they followed the law the trooper would still be alive. |
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Been on the news a lot today. They didn't say what kind of gun or how it discharged.
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Why do some people automatically go for some kind of conspiracy answer to everything? |
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Not thinking conspiracy. Perhaps my post jumped the gun a bit. The story isn't real clear on what actually happened. However, if the troopers were searching the car when the rifle discharged, I think we can all agree that something or someone pressed the trigger, most likely unintentionally. Whenever someone posts their ND story, everyone posts "guns don't go off unless the trigger is pulled". As far as I know, it is generally true. |
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I'll repost the info we have
Ever been at any MVA yourself? Ever see what its like to have to turn over a vehicle thats been overturned? Ever see what happens to the contents of said vehicle? Thats why I believe how the original story was presented. While its not mentioned, other than the other officer noted, we have a tow trruck operator who was doing the tow. I don't think the story would be as released if the tow truck guy was there to witness anything different. The officer was too young to be from that generation of guys who refuses to wear their vests even today. If it penetrated his vest, I would say it had to be an unlucky shot that hit an unprotected area, or some type of long gun. |
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Holy crap! That was around here. How did I not hear about it? It sounds to me like some dingbat had his rifle in a rifle rack or a bubba'd rifle rack with the damn thing loaded, the trigger caught on something, and BOOM. Either that or someone was f*cking with it and BOOM. Did the round go through his vest, or did it hit in an armhole or below the vest or something?? The rifles you see in gunracks (or tied to the damn truck with WIRE THROUGH THE TRIGGER GUARD) are usually deer rifles or .22 rifles.... Either way, that sucks! |
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Most likely a bolt-action or lever action rifle. Knowing what most people carry in gun racks around here.... |
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That is probably what happened. |
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There are. Firearms that are not covered under a concealed handgun permit are supposed to be carried unloaded and cased. But few people bother to do it. If you live around here, you know how many trucks with gunracks you see on the road..... Other than DUI and a violation of weapons transport laws, I don't know what the two dunderheads could be charged with.... |
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Give me a break. Locally, a firefighter died while fighting an arson fire. The guy who set the fire was charged with manslaughter. Locally, a police officer who reached inside a car and grabbed the steering wheel as it was attempting to flee fell to the ground and died. The guy driving went to prison for manslaughter. Someone posted a month ago or so about a car and motorcycle who were drag racing. Motorcycle hit someone else. The driver of the car he was racing was charged with manslaughter. When a cop dies in the line of duty, SOMEONE is going to pay for it. |
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Probably. Glocks are the only guns out there that I know of which discharge on their own. |
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since the gun was in a wrecked truck i assumed it was a rifle, perhaps behind the seat, which had the action damged in the collision in a manner that allowed the hammer to slip off the sear hooks when bumped or moved. |
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That was a deliberate action which could forseeably cause someone getting killed. Depraved indifference, etc.
Same thing.
Again, a depraved indifference arguement can be made. But that kind of arguement is much harder to make if the suspects took no direct action to cause the fatal shooting of the trooper.
I have no doubt that the DUI and weapon violations will be punished stiffly, but I don't believe they can even get a manslaughter charge out of this one. Judges still read the law, you know.... |
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Why do cops deserve retribution more than anyone else? Since when is grabbing onto a moving vehical an inteligent decision? Some moron doing something illegal does not ecuses you from doing something stupid. |
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Please don't turn this tragic incident into a cop bashing thread.
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Too late. |
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+1 bash away guys, it makes for an interesting read. |
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Quite possible. I've seen accidents where this happened. One during the actual collision and the other while EMS was pulling the decedent from the car. Both times Mossberg shotguns. Nobody hurt in those cases fortunately.
One gang banger here managed to shoot himself in the gut with an SKS across the back seat when he slid off the roadway, but I didn't work that one. |
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they were negligent + someone (regardless of whether it was a police officer) died because of their negligence = negligent homocide
and guns are allowed on those racks only between dawn to dusk... you are also prohibited from discharging a firearm from, across or within 200 (?) yards from a public road so why would you need a loaded (with one in the chamber) rifle on your gunrack? is it really that hard to cycle one round? ETA:they just announced that the driver was charged with DUI and possession of a firearm by a felon. |
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That's just wrong! No 2 ways about it.......... I feel for his friends and family. I could imagine trying to explain that to his wife how it happened. I do wonder what was the cause of the accident, and if the firearm was secured properly or not. Sad day no matter what....
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I think it is safe to assume that the firearm was NOT properly secured, as it appeared to be loaded. Knowing how the drunk bubbas like to drive their trucks, I would say that it was loaded and in a gunrack, perhaps a makeshift gunrack, when they had the accident. |
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