One U.S. Marshal Killed, Two Wounded in West Virginia Raid

Feb. 16, 2011 -- One U.S. marshal was killed, and two others were wounded in a raid on a home in Elkins, W. Va., this morning. One of the wounded officers remains hospitalized. The third was treated and released.

The raid began at 8:30 Wednesday morning. The three deputy marshals were attempting to arrest Charles E. Smith who was wanted on cocaine charges. As the marshals made their move, according to authorities, someone inside fired a shotgun blast.

The marshal who was fatally wounded was identified as Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller, 24, of Bridgeport, W. Va., who had worked for the U.S. Marshals Service for slightly over a year. The two wounded officers were not identified.

The suspect, Smith, 50, was also killed in the incident.

Hotsinpiller's death comes less than a day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was shot and killed in Mexico, along with another agent who was wounded.

This all comes after a particularly violent stretch in late January when 10 cops were shot in roughly a day's time.

Two police in Port Orchard, Wash.; another in Lincoln City, Ore.; four officers in Detroit who were wounded when a gunman stormed their precinct; and in St. Petersburg, Fla., two local officers were killed and a U.S. deputy marshal was seriously injured after serving a warrant.