Robert Joseph Coulter, a 39-year-old California Highway Patrol officer and U.S. Army Military Police veteran, died on November 2, 2003, in Sacramento. Three and a half hours into his shift his body was found in the parking lot of the CHP Weaverville station at about 9:30 a.m. after an apparent incident while he was placing his department-issued shotgun into the electronic shotgun rack of his patrol car. The shotgun, normally kept vertical between the front seats, discharged when the trigger was inadvertently depressed as he positioned it in the lock.

Coulter had 14 years with the CHP and was remembered as friendly and outgoing; his personnel file included numerous letters from citizens thanking him for his assistance. Investigators concluded the death was an accidental discharge; there were no arrests, suspects, or litigation related to the incident. The small Weaverville community and his colleagues mourned his loss.