WASHINGTON – Questions are being raised after a 19-year-old Marine from South Dakota died Friday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Southeast.
Investigators are looking into whether Lance Cpl. Cody Scott Schoenfelder’s death was part of a “trust game,” sources tell News4.
In a so-called “trust game,” Marines dare each other to try dangerous stunts.
At the time of his 6:45 p.m. death, Schoenfelder was on guard duty with another Marine.
It is possible that Schoenfelder may have been trying to demonstrate how a 9 mm handgun could be prevented from firing when the trigger is pulled, NBC News reports.
Metropolitan police and Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. have classified his death as an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound.
NBC4 has more on trust games and deaths that have been linked to them:
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