Whitmer Orders Flags Lowered for Army Corporal

LANSING, Mich. (CBS Detroit/ AP) - Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered the US and state flag to be lowered to honor the Michigan native who died last week in a training exercise in New Mexico.

Whitmer said in a release that flags should be lowered to half-staff Saturday within the State Capitol Complex and state government buildings for 24-year-old Army Cpl. Cole Wixom. The infantryman from Bloomingdale died Jan. 22 along with 21-year-old Pfc. Jamie Riley in a collision between two Stryker vehicles at McGregor Range.

The flag lowering is planned to coincide with Wixom's military funeral.

Wixom graduated from Bloomingdale High School in 2013 and joined the Army in 2016. He was stationed in western Texas at Fort Bliss and completed a tour of Iraq.

© 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.