Deaths of Virginia police officer, cousin being investigating as a murder-suicide
BIG STONE GAP, Va. March 13 2019
Police are investigating the deaths of a Big Stone Gap police officer and his cousin as a murder-suicide.
According to Virginia State Police, 21-year-old Bailey Smith and his cousin 26-year-old Emeri Connery were shot from within the vehicle their bodies were found in early Sunday morning.
VSP says there is no evidence indicating another vehicle or individual was involved in the incident.
Investigators found their bodies inside a 2015 GMC pickup truck along Highway 23 in Lee County. VSP says the truck had run off the left side of the road and into the median. Both had gunshot wounds.
Police say they located a gun inside the vehicle. They have not said who pulled the trigger.
Smith was a police officer for the Big Stone Gap Police Department.
The bodies have been taken to Roanoke for autopsies.
Arrangements have been made for Big Stone Gap police officer Smith.
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