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Employees of N.C. security contractor fired in firearms investigation
By JOANNE KIMBERLIN, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 22, 2005 | Last updated 5:08 PM Aug. 22

Two employees of Blackwater USA have been "terminated for misappropriating firearms" at the company’s 6,000-acre training compound near Moyock, N.C., according to a company spokeswoman.

Blackwater’s Anne Duke would provide no details of the firings, except to say they were linked to an investigation being conducted by North Carolina’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

"We are cooperating with the ATF," Duke said.

Earl Woodham, a spokesman at the ATF’s Charlotte, N.C., office, said Blackwater initiated the investigation.

"It’s an internal issue that was brought to our attention by the management at Blackwater," Woodham said. "We did not raid the place, we served no search warrants, and we made no arrests. They asked us for help."


Woodham said he can’t provide any more information about the on-going case yet. He did say that the terminated employees could be facing state and federal charges.

Blackwater is a privately owned firm supplying security contractors for operations in Iraq, and tactical training to law enforcement, military and private citizens. According to its Web site, more than 50,000 clients have passed through its 6,000-acre complex. The company employs numerous former police officers and military personnel from Hampton Roads.