ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604290067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER RICKETT STAFF WRITER
A 10-year-old Lexington boy died Saturday afternoon after a weapon accidentally went off on the Virginia Military Institute indoor rifle range, a VMI spokesman said.
The boy, John M. Pickral, and his mother, Nancy Pickral, were visiting the rifle range with five other members of a 4-H Club that was scheduled to go on a planned trip to the VMI skeet range. An instructor handed them what he believed to be two unloaded guns, said VMI Public Relations Director Mike Strickler.
When VMI rifle coach James Thorp handed one of the Pickrals a .380-caliber pistol, Strickler said, he retracted the slide, which put one of four bullets in the weapon's chamber. When one of the Pickrals was returning that weapon to Thorp, it discharged through Thorp's hand and into John Pickral's chest. It was unclear who was handing the weapon back to Thorp when it discharged.
Pickral and Thorp were transported to Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, where Pickral was pronounced dead at 2:07 p.m.
Thorp required surgery and was in stable condition, Strickler said.
Thorp, a 16-year rifle coach at VMI, is normally very cautious when handling weapons, Strickler said.
"Obviously, there was something in the magazine, but [Thorp] never keeps loaded weapons," Strickler said. "And we don't know how it was loaded or why there were bullets in the magazine."
No charges have been filed, but the case will be turned over to the commonwealth's attorney in Lexington for further investigation, Strickler said.
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB