SAN DIEGO — A Marine sergeant has been charged with manslaughter in the January shooting of a comrade in a barracks at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
The Associated Press learned Friday that Sgt. Lincoln J. Crall, 26, is accused of shooting Lance Cpl. Cameron M. Babcock, 19, on Jan. 20, hitting him in the chest.
Crall shot Babcock with a privately owned gun, not a military-issued firearm, said Lt. Jaymie Sicking, a public affairs officer for the 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 defense attorney, Jude Litzenberger, was not immediately 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.
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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 keeping any type of personal firearm in the barracks, she said.
At the time of the shooting, Babcock, an infantry rifleman, had just returned from spending three weeks at home after completing his first seven-month tour of duty in Iraq. He was the son of Jeff and Anne Babcock of Plymouth, 23 miles south of South Bend.
"We know that charges have been filed against Sgt. Crall. Really, that’s all we know. We are just waiting,” Anne Babcock told The AP by phone.
She said Marine officials have been keeping her family informed about details of the case.
"We’re just waiting to know when trial dates are set,” she said.
Crall also had recently returned from duty in Iraq.
Both men were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
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