A truck driver was ordered on the ground and nearly shot in the head by a Virginia police officer on Monday afternoon.
It happened at the weigh station off Interstate 81, near mile marker 149, in Troutville, Virignia.
Police say they spotted a woman who was reported missing inside the truck driver’s cab. After pulling into the weigh station, 54-year-old trucker John Leisenring was ordered onto the ground by an officer. As he was being detained, the police officer’s gun accidentally discharged and struck the pavement inches from the drivers head.
It was later revealed that that the trucker’s passenger, Ramona Huffman, was there voluntarily and knew the truck driver. Her daughter reportedly contacted the police when she could not find her mother.
In a statement, Leisenring explained, “Had they done due diligence in their job, they would have known she was as free as a barnyard cat.”
Huffman said that when she heard the gun go off she thought her friend had been shot. She explained, “I had seen him get up and open the door and heard officers yelling at him. The next thing I knew, I heard a gun go off.”
The Roanoke Times reported that police had been monitoring the pair and even took photographs of them together. The police also confiscated both of their phones, which have not been returned.
Police have refused to identify the trooper or to disclose his amount of training. In a state police news release issued on Monday, there was no mention of the gun that had accidentally discharged.
