www.vsp.state.va.us/newsreleases/2006/news2006-07.htm

RIP brother.

REST IN PEACE BROTHER

RIP brother.

That's gotta be the worst case of bum luck I've ever heard of.  I guess when it's your time, it's your time.

RIP

VIRGINIA STATE POLICE IDENTIFY TROOPER KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY



RICHMOND – Virginia State Police Superintendent Colonel W. Steven Flaherty extends his sincerest condolences to the family of Trooper Kevin C. Manion, who was killed in the line of duty Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2006.

“This is a tremendous loss shared by every member of our Department,” Colonel Flaherty said. “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.

There were a set of wings waiting for him....

RIP, Brother........

R.I.P.  BROTHER

RIP brother

condolences sent to the family

Be Safe

hamptonroads.cox.net/cci/newslocal/local?_mode=view&view=LocalNewsArticleView&articleId=1306477


Gun Involved In Fatal Shooting Of Virginia State Trooper Was Stolen    
02-23-2006 6:52 AM

(Clifton Forge, VA) -- Virginia State Police say the gun involved in the fatal shooting of a state trooper was stolen. They say the rifle had been taken from a home in Clarke County Saturday, the day that 27-year-old Kevin Manion was shot to death. Funeral services were held yesterday for Manion in Clifton Forge. Police have charged a West Virginia man with DUI, a weapons offense and burglary and a woman with being drunk in public. The two were in a pickup truck that flipped over, and Manion was investigating the accident when a gun inside the vehicle somehow discharged, fatally wounding the trooper.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/53969

Scores honor slain trooper

Kevin Manion was remembered as an aggressive but fair lawman who looked after his 10 siblings.
By Reed Williams

In his immaculate state police uniform, Trooper Kevin Manion looked made to wear blue and gray.

That was how fellow Trooper Mark Pratt remembered his good friend Wednesday, as the model state trooper. Manion could always be counted on, Pratt said, and many times, he was the last trooper to leave the scene of an accident.

The 27-year-old Manion, a Bath County native, was working a traffic accident Saturday in Northern Virginia when he was accidentally shot and killed by an unattended high-powered rifle. Police said they believe the stolen .30-06-caliber rifle discharged from inside a pickup truck and shot Manion in the chest.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials from across Virginia and elsewhere honored Manion at funeral services Wednesday in Clifton Forge.

"He pushed me to be the best trooper I could be," Pratt told more than 500 people at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. "He never left a trooper hanging."

Manion responded Saturday afternoon to an overturned Ford Ranger off Virginia 649 in Clarke County. The pickup's occupants were taken into custody on alcohol-related charges.

Manion was standing outside Trooper Pam Neff's cruiser, talking to her, when he suddenly was felled by a bullet, said state police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty.

The round entered Manion's body under his right arm, an area that was not covered by his bulletproof vest, said state police Sgt. Frederick Tyler.

Neff thought a sniper had cut Manion down, Flaherty said. She jumped out of her car and summoned rescue personnel, already at the accident scene. Manion was flown to Inova-Fairfax Hospital, where he died.

Because police thought a sniper was in the woods, a tactical team responded to the area. Pratt, who went through the police academy with Manion and who often had him over for dinner with his family, was on that team.

Police are uncertain why the gun discharged. The rifle was stolen earlier that day in a burglary in western Clarke County, authorities said.

The wrecked pickup's driver, David Ellis Ferrebee, 58, of Charles Town, W.Va., was charged with burglary and grand larceny of the gun, as well as with driving under the influence and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, authorities said. His passenger, Belinda K. Brown, 38, of Summit Point, W.Va., was charged with being drunk in public.

The last time a Virginia state trooper died in the line of duty was Jan. 29, 2003, when Trooper Michael Blanton, 29, was dragged by a car and killed after making a traffic stop in Henrico County.

"Saturday was an extremely dark day for us as an agency," Flaherty said shortly before Manion's funeral. "We lost a family member."

Law officers from as far off as Kentucky and Maryland turned out for the funeral, as did several politicians, including Gov. Tim Kaine.

Manion was remembered as an aggressive but fair lawman who loved a good joke and looked after his five brothers and five sisters.

His sister, Kristina Manion, recalled what it was like growing up with her sometimes mischievous, but always generous and helpful, younger brother.

"The entire family really looked to Kevin for help and for guidance," Kristina Manion said. "We are ... very, very proud for everything he has done, the person he was."

Manion graduated in 2001 from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg and earned an associate's degree in education from Dabney S. Lancaster.

He joined the state police in 2002 and patrolled Prince William County during the midnight shift with Pratt. Manion later was transferred to the Winchester area.

"Kevin, I love you, bro," Pratt said. "I'm gonna miss you."