A second airman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a shooting death at a US Air Force base in Wyoming in the last month.
F.E. Warren Air Force Base Airman First Class Jadan Orr, 20, remained in jail on Monday after allegedly shooting a man in a Cheyenne apartment early Saturday, according to police and sheriff’s officials.
Orr and several friends had been drinking at the apartment for the majority of the night when he and two others went into another room and began handling an AK-47 rifle, according to a Cheyenne Police Department statement.
Orr allegedly fired the weapon through a wall, striking the 23-year-old in the torso. Police arrived to find several people outside attempting to help the man, who died at the scene, according to the statement.
Orr was charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to the Laramie County Circuit Court. He did not have an attorney on record to speak on his behalf.
As of Monday, neither Cheyenne Police nor the Laramie County Coroner had publicly identified the victim. Police referred inquiries about the victim’s identity to Coroner Rebecca Reid, who did not immediately return a phone message.
On August 12, officials at the base just outside Cheyenne announced that an airman had been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, obstructing justice, and making a false statement in connection with the July 20 shooting death of another airman.
The victim was identified as Brayden Lovan, 21, a member of the 90th Security Forces Squadron, 90th Missile Wing.
The shooting prompted the US Air Force Global Strike Command to suspend the use of Sig Sauer’s M18 handgun.
Plaintiffs have filed lawsuits alleging that the weapon is capable of firing even when the trigger is not pulled. Other military branches have continued to use the firearm.
Unlike in the most recent case, the airman was charged in a military court, not a civilian one. The Air Force had not yet released the identity of the accused airman or any other details about the earlier shooting, stating on Monday that it was still being investigated.
