VA Motorcycle Trooper Killed
 

Va. Trooper Killed in Mixing Bowl
Updated: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002 - 10:57 PM

(Springfield-AP) -- A state trooper on a motorcycle was hit by a tow truck and killed today in the Springfield Mixing Bowl while responding to a report of gunshots. Trooper Mark Cosslett was forty. He was a former Marine and had worked for the state police for 16 years. State police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell says the sniper terrorizing the Washington area has created an especially stressful situation for troopers, who must treat reports of gunshots as possible sniper attacks. The call Cosslett was responding to turned out to be unfounded. Cosslett was killed at about 5:35 pm as he drove on the right shoulder of southbound I-95. A tow truck driven by a 30-year-old Dumfries man swerved into the shoulder from the right lane and hit the motorcycle, as traffic slowed in front of him. The trooper was thrown from his motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene. Caldwell said it appears the tow truck driver did not see Cosslett. Charges are pending.