FBI Investigates Shooting Of Military Helicopter In NoVA

MANASSAS, VA — An Air Force helicopter was flying over Middleburg Monday when it was hit by a bullet from the ground, forcing the helicopter to make an emergency landing at the Manassas Regional Airport. Federal agents were called to the scene to investigate, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

One crew member in the helicopter was injured but has since been treated and released from the hospital, according to authorities. The helicopter was flying about 1,000 feet above the ground when it was hit.

The Manassas airport received a call from the Manassas Control Tower at 12:20 p.m. Monday about a military helicopter inbound that had an on-board emergency and that paramedics would be arriving shortly, Patty Prince, spokeswoman for the city of Manassas, said in a statement emailed to Patch.

The incident is now under investigation to determine if the helicopter was deliberately shot at or if someone was randomly shooting into the air, CNN reported. McClatchy was first to report the shooting.

The crew members aboard the UH-1N Huey helicopter were assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews and were on a training mission over Middleburg when the helicopter was struck by a bullet, the Air Force said in a statement.

The initial findings of the investigation said the bullet injured a crew member and caused some damage to the aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement provided to AP.

The Air Force has not indicated why the helicopter was flying in the Middleburg area as part of the training mission. Mount Weather, the emergency government operations center, is located about 10 miles west of where the helicopter was shot.

The 1st Helicopter Squadron transports senior military and civilian leaders, along with high-ranking dignitaries, and also performs emergency medical evacuations. The skies of Northern Virginia, especially inside the Beltway, can be noisy at certain times of the day transporting military officials and other people.

The FBI issued a statement Wednesday confirming the incident and its ongoing investigation.

About noon Monday, the FBI's Washington Field Office dispatched special agents and its evidence response team to the Manassas airport "after receiving reports that a helicopter was shot at from the ground nearby," the FBI said in the statement.

The FBI said it was working with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations “to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”