Gun Salesman Cleared in Fatal Va. Shooting
A gun salesman who pleaded self-defense in the death of a man he shot with a machine gun following a traffic dispute and a lengthy highway chase was acquitted of second-degree murder and a gun charge yesterday by a Fairfax County jury.
The Circuit Court jury deliberated almost four hours before finding Gary S. Fadden, 26, not guilty in the death of William H. Hamilton, 35, of Front Royal, Va., last Feb. 26.
Hamilton was shot six times in the parking lot of the Chantilly-area office of Heckler und Koch, the gun manufacturing firm that employs Fadden. According to testimony at the trial, Fadden had attempted to take refuge there following a 17-mile chase that began on Route 50 near Middleburg in Loudoun County.
The weapon from which the fatal shots were fired was a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle modified for fully automatic machine gun use, according to testimony at the trial. Such weapons are usually owned legally only by the military and law enforcement agencies, but Fadden, as a weapons salesman, was licensed to carry one. The weapons charge of which Fadden was acquitted was using a firearm in commission of a felony.
A gun salesman who pleaded self-defense in the death of a man he shot with a machine gun following a traffic dispute and a lengthy highway chase was acquitted of second-degree murder and a gun charge yesterday by a Fairfax County jury.
The Circuit Court jury deliberated almost four hours before finding Gary S. Fadden, 26, not guilty in the death of William H. Hamilton, 35, of Front Royal, Va., last Feb. 26.
Hamilton was shot six times in the parking lot of the Chantilly-area office of Heckler und Koch, the gun manufacturing firm that employs Fadden. According to testimony at the trial, Fadden had attempted to take refuge there following a 17-mile chase that began on Route 50 near Middleburg in Loudoun County.
The weapon from which the fatal shots were fired was a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle modified for fully automatic machine gun use, according to testimony at the trial. Such weapons are usually owned legally only by the military and law enforcement agencies, but Fadden, as a weapons salesman, was licensed to carry one. The weapons charge of which Fadden was acquitted was using a firearm in commission of a felony.
