Two male Marines were involved in what the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has now confirmed was a shooting incident involving two people ― an incident that the law enforcement agency believes may have been accidental.
On Thursday evening a Marine with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, was injured as a result of a firearms incident in the barracks at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Marine Corps Times previously reported.
Medical authorities deemed the injured Marine to be completely stable, the Marine Corps confirmed Tuesday, and he was released from the hospital on Sunday, three days after the incident.
“We can confirm the victim and the shooter are both males and Marines,” NCIS spokesman Jeff Houston said in a statement Tuesday. “Our preliminary investigative findings appear to indicate this was an accidental shooting.”
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No charges have been filed at this time, Houston confirmed.
The Marine Corps has said it would be inappropriate to comment further, noting that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. NCIS said the same.
“Out of the respect for the investigative process, NCIS is not able to provide additional details,” Houston said.
The battalion made headlines in a totally separate incident in 2019, when two rifles went missing during a training exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. As of April, those rifles were still missing.
The command team at the time, Lt. Col. Clinton Kappel and Sgt. Maj. Elson Aviles, were relieved of their duties in March 2020 “due to a loss of trust and confidence.”
Prior to the Thursday shooting incident, Marines with the unit had just returned from a rotational deployment to Norway.
Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times. On Twitter: @_andreascott.
Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times.
