A Pennsylvania National Guard sergeant from Somerset County was killed when he was hit by a bullet from a .50-caliber machine gun that fired accidentally during a training exercise at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County.
Rudolph B. Flaim, 25, of Jerome, was helping fellow members of the 876th Engineer Battalion load the machine gun onto a sport utility vehicle Monday when the weapon discharged a single round.
Flaim, who was wounded in the right hand and shoulder, was transported by helicopter to the Hershey Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:30 p.m., about 2 1/2 hours after the accident.
Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver said it was "absolutely not" Army policy to keep live ammunition in guns while they are being transported.
Cleaver declined to comment further about the incident, which the Army is investigating.
