Stanley Police Officer Winum was killed with a military assault-style rifle

(Update: As noted in a “Correction-Clarification” published by Royal Examiner on March 12, 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 above headline and third sentence of the below five-sentence introduction of the VSP press release of March 3.

That change is from “military-style assault rifle” to “military assault-style rifle” as was correctly worded in the photo caption of the weapon below. The change reflects the fact that all military-use model rifles marketed as “sports” rifles to the general 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 weapon photo below 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 Richards 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.)

A Smith & Wesson M&P-15 rifle was cited as recovered in the possession of 29-year-old Dakota G. Richards after he was killed by law enforcement officers who had tracked him to a barn on the 700 block of Marksville Road after the fatal shooting of Stanley Police Officer “Nick” Winum on February 26. A handgun was also reported recovered from Richards’ vehicle, with no additional information on that weapon in a March 3 update on the incident investigation by the Virginia State Police.

An online search of the referenced M&P-15 rifle revealed a military assault-style rifle pictured below.

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 Photo Roger Bianchini

The VSP early March update also notes that the traffic stop Winum initiated of Richards was in response to a Be On the Lookout (BOL) “issued for a suspicious person with a gun” in a vehicle matching the description of the Honda Civic Richards was traveling in.

Following is the March 3, VSP Press Release from the office of Culpeper Division Public Information Officer Brent Coffey in its entirety:

STANLEY, Va. – The investigations into the fatal shootings that occurred Friday (Feb. 26) in the Town of Stanley remains ongoing by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Culpeper Field Office.

Town of Stanley Police Officer D.J. “Nick” Winum observed a 2002 Honda Civic that matched the description of a “Be On the Lookout” issued for a suspicious person with a gun. At approximately 3:15 p.m., Officer Winum activated his marked patrol vehicle’s emergency equipment to initiate a traffic stop. The Honda Civic pulled over in the 600 block of Judy Lane.

Before the officer could exit his patrol vehicle, the driver, Dakota G. Richards, got out of his vehicle and began shooting at Officer Winum’s vehicle. Officer Winum succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Richards, 29, of Stanley, Va., fled into the nearby woods on foot. A handgun was recovered from Richards’ vehicle.

Law enforcement personnel responded to the scene and assisted with tracking Richards. He was later located hiding out in a barn in the 700 block of Marksville Road. There, Richards made a threatening movement and was shot by Page County Sheriff’s Deputies. Richards succumbed to his injuries at the scene. A Smith & Wesson M&P-15 rifle was recovered in his possession.

No additional law enforcement was injured.

Once state police complete the officer-involved shooting, the criminal investigative files will be turned over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney for final review and adjudication.

Stanley Police Officer ‘Nick’ Winum, RIP. Online Photo Courtesy Stanley Police Dpt.