Marine on Panama Patrol Accidentally Killed by Gunfire
A Marine on security patrol in Panama has been killed, apparently by gunfire from a fellow Marine, a spokesman at the U.S. Southern Command said today.
The Marine, a corporal, was one of a company sent to riot-torn Panama last week from Camp Lejeune, N.C., said U.S. Air Force Col. Ron Sconyers. His name was not immediately released.
He was shot at least once in the stomach and was pronounced dead at 1:10 a.m. today.
The slain man was part of a 12-Marine patrol that had been split into sections of nine and three men on the west side of the Panama Canal when a trip flare was set off, apparently by an intruder.
“Instead of the flare going up, there was a loud crack, like gunfire. Someone starting shooting,” Sconyers said.
No intruders were apprehended. “Friendly fire from Marines was the only fire we had in the area,” he said.
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