Marine charged in SoCal barracks killing
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080411/...AtcQ77BzdvzwcF
SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting in a barracks of a colleague who had recently returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq.
Sgt. Lincoln J. Crall, 26, is accused of shooting Lance Cpl. Cameron M. Babcock, 19, on Jan. 20, hitting him in the chest, at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
Crall, who had also recently returned from duty in Iraq, shot Babcock with a privately owned gun, not a military-issued firearm, Lt. Jaymie Sicking, a spokeswoman for the 1st Marine Division, said Friday.
Both men were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
Crall, of Boulder, Colo., faces court-martial on one count of manslaughter. He was scheduled to appear in court at Twentynine Palms on Wednesday for a hearing to set trial dates and motion hearings.
Details about what led to the shooting were not immediately provided. A telephone call to Crall's civilian attorney, Jude Litzenberger, was not returned.
Military police found Babcock, of Plymouth, Ind., with a gunshot wound to his chest in the barracks after receiving a phone call for help, Marine officials said.
In January, investigators said the shooting appeared to have been the result of "negligent handling of a privately owned gun." It did not appear to be intentional or self-inflicted, they said.
It was unclear whether Crall owned the gun or it belonged to someone else, Sicking said. Marine Corps policy prohibits personal firearms in the barracks, she said.
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