A 20-year-old U.S. Marine was killed during an active-duty training exercise in California when a gun reportedly discharged in a truck filled with other service members.
Lance Cpl. Jackson J. Forringer, with the 2nd Marine Regiment based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, died on April 20 “while conducting training during Integrated Training Exercise 3-23 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California,” 2nd Lt. Olivia Giarrizzo, a spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Division, said in an email to Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
“The incident is currently under investigation by NCIS. No other injuries were reported,” Giarrizzo added.
The spokesperson cited an active investigation by the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) and declined to go into further detail.
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Marine veteran Trey Smith-Tatham, who previously served with Forringer, said Forringer was killed “by an inadvertent gun discharge while he was with other Marines in the back of a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, or 7-ton truck,” according to Corps Marine Times.
Smith-Tatham, 21, told the outlet that Forringer, an infantryman, arrived with his unit in Twentynine Palms for pre-deployment training in late March.
Smith-Tatham, who said he was discharged in 2022 due to drug use but kept in touch with members of his former unit daily, told the outlet he learned that Marines from Forringer’s platoon had been ordered into the back of the truck. He said they had been told to set their service rifles at “condition one,” meaning with a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber.
It’s unclear how Forringer was shot, but Smith-Tatham said he believes someone in the vehicle, which was not moving at the time, had their weapon’s safety off.
Smith-Tatham said he lost a close friend, Pfc. Zachary Riffle, who was killed along with a second Marine in a seven-ton truck rollover at Camp Lejeune in January…
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