CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- The bizarre October shooting death of Chesterfield father Nick Clavier has been ruled accidental. Family members, who have spoken to investigators, confirmed the information to CBS 6 reporter Laura French.
Clavier was taking his children on a weekend fishing trip last fall when a gun in his SUV fired. Clavier's vehicle then crashed into a tree along the 8700 block of Hull Street Road. With the SUV wrapped around the tree and her father critically injured, Clavier's nine-year-old daughter got her younger sister and two younger brothers out safely.
The children, aged nine, eight, six and four, then walked through the woods to a nearby church for safety, Clavier's father-in-law Pastor Nathan Boehm said.
"My oldest granddaughter, she instantly reacted when the car hit the tree," Boehm said shortly after the crash. "She trekked them through the woods and to the church where they were safe."
A gun that belonged to Clavier was found inside the SUV, but Pastor Boehm said the gun was not in anyone's hand when it fired.
"It didn't go off in anybody's hand because they have checked that, so it was an accidental thing," Boehm said at the time.
Family members said they were still waiting for ballistics tests to come back so police could determine exactly what happened inside the SUV.
