Virginia State Police, Virginia
End of Watch: Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Age: 40
Tour of Duty: 16 years
Badge Number: 968
Cause of Death: Motorcycle crash
Date of Incident: October 23, 2002
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Trooper Charles Cosslett was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-95, near Backlick Road, south of I-495, in the Springfield area of Fairfax County.
Trooper Cosslett was responding to a sniper-related shooting call at 5:35 p.m. and driving on the right shoulder around rush hour traffic when a tow truck veered onto the shoulder from the right lane. The motorcycle struck the tow truck, killing Trooper Cosslett instantly.
Trooper Cosslett was scheduled to be off the day he was killed but reported to work to help other officers search for a sniper who had killed ten people and wounded another three in the Washington metro area. The shooting call he was responding to turned out to be unfounded. The two suspects in the sniper case were arrested at 3 a.m. the next morning near Frederick, Maryland.
Trooper Cosslett was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Virginia State Police for 16 years. He is survived by his wife, 3-year-old son, and 2-year-old daughter.