Correction-Clarification to VSP update on Winum investigation story

A semantical error in the description of the weapon identified by Virginia State Police as the likely murder weapon of Stanley Police Officer Dominic “Nick” Winum has led to a wording correction in the headline and third sentence of the five-sentence introduction of the VSP press release of March 3, published here on March 7.

That change is from “military-style assault rifle” to “military assault-style rifle” as was correctly worded in the photo caption of the weapon with the originally published story. The change reflects the fact that all military-use model rifles marketed as “sports” rifles to the public are adjusted from fully automatic status – one trigger pull, multiple rounds fired (colloquially, machine-gun fire characteristic of the battlefield) – to semi-automatic, one round fired for every trigger pull for as many rounds as the clip holds. As noted above, the originally published caption with the online photograph of the weapon was correctly worded: “An online search of ‘Smith & Wesson M&P-15’ revealed a military assault-style semi-automatic rifle available with 10 and 30-round clips.”

Royal Examiner and the writer regret any confusion the wording glitch may have created that the M&P-15 rifle in possession of the suspected murderer of Office Winum was a fully automatic weapon. While some such “sports” models converted from the military market can be re-converted to fully automatic weapons by people with knowledge of the weapon’s machinery, VSP has yet to comment on the firing status of the Smith & Wesson M&P-15 in the possession of Officer Winum’s suspected murderer Dakota G. Richards. Richards was killed by Page County Sheriff’s Deputies after what was described as a “threatening movement” towards law enforcement tracking and confronting him with the M&P-15 in his possession in woods in the vicinity of the scene of the crime.

Royal Examiner stands by the substance of the article and the importance of the weapon’s identification as, at least a semi-automatic “sports” rifle based on a fully automatic military assault rifle design. The headline and text of the original story have been corrected to read “Stanley Police Officer Winum was killed with a military assault-style rifle”.