Then, there was the gent who was apparently gobsmacked to find himself under arrest simply for attempting to exercise his Second Amendment rights in front of the White House. He didn't mean anyone any harm, you see. He "was only going to fire a couple of shots," and where's the harm in that?
In a continuing trend, we count four home invasion shootings this week. And in a new twist, two home protection scenarios gone wrong: one woman who shot herself in the legs with the shotgun she'd brought to confront the person she thought was beating at her door, and one man who was asked by a friend to stay with his girlfriend to protect her while she was home alone, and then ended up shooting that friend when he came home, mistaking him for an intruder.
One follow-up on a previous story. Remember that rolling Wild West shootout in Milwaukee? Check out this interview with one of the participants. Like the White House guy, he too is baffled about his arrest, though at least he has a potentially legit "takes two to tango" excuse for his confusion. But check out his post-shootout thinking. He's kinda, sorta, maybe, almost convinced that his decision to return fire and chase his attackers across town, firing from car to car all the way, was possibly not such a great idea. Still, he's pretty sure local law enforcement wanted him to do it, anyway. And that's Responsible.TM
Tough time for the teenagers this week. The kid victims of #GunFAIL this week were 2, 5, 9, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16, 16 and 17. Only three of those kids were accidentally shot by adults, by the way. Five shot themselves, and six were shot by other kids, the youngest shooter being six.
UPDATE: One thing I neglected to point out: Walterboro, South Carolina (pop. 5,360*), makes a remarkable fifth appearance in the GunFAIL series this week. Previous incidents there were reported in January, February, March and April. So they'd been having a good run, recently! But, old habits die hard, I guess, and July finds them back on the list.
Details on this week's stories are below the fold.
- COLUMBUS, OH, 7/05/13: A teen who unintentionally shot a friend during a sleepover pleaded guilty to a delinquency charge of reckless homicide yesterday in Franklin County Juvenile Court. Levi K. Reed, 15, will be sentenced by Magistrate Woodrow Hudson on Aug. 23. On July 5, 2012, Reed fatally shot 14-year-old Noah McGuire at the Fairlawn Avenue home where Reed lives with his grandparents in Clintonville. McGuire was spending the night with the family when Reed found a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun behind a television set in a bedroom about 12:20 p.m., Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Hogan said. Reed removed the magazine from the gun and, assuming it was unloaded, pointed it at McGuire and pulled the trigger. Reed didn’t realize that the gun’s chamber contained a bullet, which discharged and struck McGuire in the chest, Hogan said.
- PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA, 7/09/13: A 12-year-old Punxsutawney boy was treated Tuesday after accidentally shooting himself in the shoulder with his father's gun. Punxsutawney-based state police say the incident occurred at a residence at 2587 Elbel Road in Bell Township. Police say the boy was unknowingly playing with a .22 long run that was in his father's bedroom. The weapon had a round in the chamber and the boy accidentally bumped the trigger, which cause the gun to go off and send the round into his shoulder.
- LORAIN, OH, 7/09/13: Noble is facing additional charges for his role in a home invasion on Tuesday, Watkins said. Police believe Noble burglarized a home on Indiana Avenue, and during the burglary, Noble accidentally shot another suspect, Dilan Rose, 21.
- OAK CREEK, WI, 7/10/13: A Milwaukee man faces charges after he told police he accidentally shot his cousin during a barbecue at an Oak Creek mobile park, FOX6 reports. Kronquist and his family were grilling food on Wednesday, and before they sat down to eat he tried to pull a firearm—which he has a concealed weapons permit for—from his pocket to place on top of a refrigerator. He said he attempted to pull it in a “quick draw” fashion as a joke, but it accidentally fired and hit his cousin in the back, according to FOX6.
- MCPHERSON CO., KS, 7/11/13: Wanna see my cool gun? Check it—BLAM!—ow! A 30-year-old Brookeville man accidentally shot himself in the hand Thursday at 78 Comanche Road. The man reportedly was showing the gun to another person. He tried to eject a round out of the chamber, and the firearm discharged.
- JACKSON CO., GA, 7/12/13: On July 12, Deputy Jody Seabolt was dispatched to Athens Regional Medical Center where a man was being treated for a gunshot wound to his left hand. The man said that when he arrived at his home on GW Wilson Road in Nicholson he took his .45-caliber pistol inside and was placing it in a holster when it accidentally discharged and the bullet went through his hand.
- TUSCON, AZ, 7/13/13: A 2-year-old's uncle is booked on one count of aggravated assault after accidentally shooting his niece in the leg yesterday. The Pima County Sheriff's Department investigated the shooting on the southwest side, near Valencia and Mission. The 2-year-old's uncle is identified as 23-year-old Richard Moreno. He was in the carport while visiting at the home when he accidentally discharged the weapon. The bullet went through the wall and struck the child in the leg while she was in the living room. Moreno fled the scene following the shooting. Family members were able to convince Moreno to surrender to detectives and was arrested at his mother's residence.
- SOUTH BEND, IN, 7/13/13: Friday evening, police and medics responded to a call on Pear Rd. A woman's leg was grazed by a piece of a stray bullet. St. Joseph County police discovered that a man who was about a mile away was practicing shooting in his backyard when he missed the target. Officers say the woman's wound was superficial. They say because target shooting is legal in the county, stray bullet fragments are common.
- NASHVILLE, TN, 7/13/13: Just before midnight, a man was walking near 12th and Edgehill when a stray bullet struck him in the left leg, police said. The victim was transported to Vanderbilt and the status of his condition is unknown.
- WATKINSVILLE, GA, 7/13/13: A Watkinsville man on Saturday accidently shot himself and someone else with a single bullet. The man was handling a .22-caliber pistol inside his home when he accidentally shot himself in the hand. After passing through his hand, the bullet then hit a visitor in the arm, according to an Oconee County Sheriff’s report. The shooting occurred about 11:45 PM at the home off Moreland Drive, where the 26-year-old handling the pistol was seated in a chair when the gun fired, deputies said.
- BILLINGS, MT, 7/13/13: The man wounded in a shooting early Saturday in downtown Billings likely shot himself, Police Chief Rich St. John said Monday. Anthony Kenneth Allen, 44, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg during a confrontation with Officer Marc Snider at about 12:15 AM. During a press conference Monday, St. John said there is a "high probability" that Allen shot himself while pulling a .22-caliber revolver from his waistband. Snider, who has been placed on paid administrative leave, fired his .40-caliber handgun nine times, St. John said. Two of the nine rounds fired by the officer were accounted for by police detectives, the chief said. Allen appeared to reach for something in his waist and was turning toward Snider when the officer heard a gunshot, St. John said. Snider then fired, striking a bench and a tree, but apparently missing Allen, who was about 25 yards away, the police chief said. Allen told officers he was withdrawing the gun from his pants to put it down when he shot himself, St. John said.
- HOUSTON, TX, 7/14/13: A teenager is on life support this morning following an accidental shooting near Rice University. Police were called to a home on Dunstan near Ashby around 8:30 last night. They found a teenager with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Investigators say two people were home at the time, including an adult who owns the pistol involved. UPDATE: He didn't make it.
- KODIAK, AK, 7/14/13: Kodiak police say a 15-year-old boy has been taken into custody and charged with assault following the shooting of a 16-year-old boy at a home. KMXT reports the older boy was visiting the home of another teen Sunday night when the shotgun shooting occurred. Kodiak police say the 16-year-old boy is in critical condition. Police Chief T.C. Kamai says police responded to a report that the boy was accidentally shot by the other boy. Kamai says detectives are investigating the shooting.
- SANTA FE, NM, 7/14/13: Police say two incidents involving gunshots reported Sunday could be related. Both incidents took place Sunday around 4 PM in the same area of town. In one case, police responded to a report that Ricky Romero, 2239 Antonio Lane, accidentally shot himself in the foot in the 2100 block of Cerrillos Road. The other report was that a man shot a firearm in the 1300 block of Luana Street, just one block away, and that the bullet entered a home and lodged in the wall behind a child’s bed.
- ROCHESTER, NY, 7/14/13: Killed in the Linnet Street shooting was Allen Hutchinson, 57, of Rochester, who was walking his dog on the street. Sheppard said he feels the shooting is the result of a stray round because Hutchinson was not involved in any criminal activities, which frequently leads to violence in the city. (Side note from same story: And in a shooting on Boston Street Friday, three men were gunned down, one fatally, while they participated in a vigil marking a shooting from a year ago.)
- LOS ANGELES, CA, 7/15/13: A drunken 38-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself with a handgun at a Boyle Heights residence early Monday morning as a friend was trying to take the weapon away from him, police said. The shooting occurred in the 3200 block of Folsom Street at 12:15 AM, said Sgt. Peter Gamino of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollenbeck Station. "A husband and wife were home with a 38-year-old friend, showing off a gun, and the husband tried to take the gun away from the drunk friend because he didn't want the friend to shoot himself," Gamino said. The friend tried to hang onto the weapon and, in the struggle, shot himself in the head, he said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Gamino said. Investigators were checking for gunpowder on the hands of the dead man and the host to corroborate the account related to police, Gamino said. If true, "the guy had good intentions. He just couldn't get his friend to let go of the trigger," he said.
- VANCOUVER, WA, 7/15/13: A man accidentally shot himself in the hand while loading his .45 caliber pistol early this morning in the East Minnehaha neighborhood. Deputies were called to 3600 N.E. 54th St. after Jason D. Roberts, 61, had already gone to an area hospital to be treated for the gunshot wound, Clark County Sgt. Fred Neiman said.
- ORANGE CO., FL, 7/15/13: A woman in Orange County was shot in the arm by her boyfriend, deputies said Monday. Authorities said say the man fled the scene, but was later arrested at a home on 9th Street. Deputies said the man told them he was fighting with his girlfriend when the gun accidentally fired.
- MACON CO., MO, 7/15/13: A Macon County teenager is recovering from a gunshot wound following an accidental shooting Monday morning. The incident occurred just before 10 AM at a residence near Ethel. Investigators told KTVO the victim is Austin Pulliam, 13. Macon County Sheriff Kevin Shoemaker said Pulliam was playing around with a .22 caliber revolver when the gun accidentally discharged. The bullet went into his abdomen, then exited his body and lodged in his leg.
- JACKSON CO., FL, 7/15/13: Jackson County continues to yawn at accidental shootings, I guess. Here's all you'll get from the cops on this one: The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and county fire/rescue reported the following incidents for July 15, the latest available report: One accident, one hospice death, two abandoned vehicles, one reckless driver ... one accidental shooting reported, one civil dispute, one trespass complaint ...
- ALBUQUERQUE, NM, 7/15/13: Authorities say an Albuquerque police officer is recovering after another officer accidentally shot him when the fellow officer bumped into a wall. Albuquerque police said the officer was shot Monday evening during an investigation into a possible gunman on the roof of a business. Albuquerque police spokesman Robert Gibbs says when officers arrived at the scene they found people playing with a BB gun. But as officers later searched the area, police say one officer bumped up against a wall and accidentally fired a shot, hitting another officer in the calf.
- UPLAND, PA, 7/15/13: Officials at Crozer Chester Medical Center are investigating an incident in which a bullet fired from outside the hospital late Monday night struck a patient in the abdomen. It was 11:40 Monday night when someone opened fire outside the hospital, located in Upland, Delaware County. The bullet pierced a first floor window of the building, going through two panes of glass, before striking a 62-year-old female patient who was lying in her bed. Authorities say the bullet could have traveled in excess of one mile if it didn't hit anything. They now have the daunting task of trying to figure out where that bullet was fired.
- VANCOUVER, WA, 7/15/13: A 52-year-old man was arrested for firing his gun in order to get alleged car prowlers off his Vancouver property, but deputies are investigating whether it was linked to a teen party at a nearby home that got out of control. Around 3:30 AM Clark County deputies responded to multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired at 5804 NE 124th St. They arrived and spoke to the property owner, Barton, who admitted he had fired his weapon while chasing away people who he thought were breaking into his vehicles. There were no injuries, the sheriff’s office said. Neighbors told KOIN that a teen party at a nearby home got large and out-of-hand overnight Sunday. However, the sheriff’s office would not disclose if investigators believe the teens from the party ventured onto Barton’s property. It was also not immediately confirmed if Barton fired his weapon in the direction of the alleged prowlers, or up in the air. UPDATE: Outside the courtroom Wednesday, Barton cited the vice president in defense of his actions. “I did what Joe Biden told me to do,” Barton told KOIN. “I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air.” Barton was referring to a question and answer session the vice president had in February. “If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barreled shotgun,” Biden said at the time.
- YORK, PA, 7/16/13: York City Police are investigating after a York man was shot early this morning. Brandon Washington, 20, of York was transported to York Hospital by a personal vehicle and was treated there for his injuries, police said in a release. Police responded to the emergency room at York Hospital at 3:33 AM. Evidence collected so far in the case suggests Washington accidentally shot himself, York City Police Chief Wes Kahley said this morning. "We're still looking at the physical evidence, but it appears it might be self-inflicted," he said. Kahley said that police spoke with Washington at York Hospital, but that the 20-year-old York man was less than helpful.
- URBANA, IL, 7/16/13: Police say a shooting Tuesday afternoon at an Urbana apartment complex was accidental. According to an Urbana police report, officers were called to an apartment complex at 1806 S. Cottage Grove, U., at 12:55 PM to investigate a reported shooting. Police found a 24-year-old man on the ground in the common area with a gunshot wound in his lower right leg. Police said it appears the shooting was accidental while the man had been carrying his loaded handgun.
- SUNMAN, IN, 7/16/13: A Ripley County woman accidentally shot herself in the legs when attempting to confront a person knocking at her door Tuesday night. Ripley County Communications received a 911 call from Christina L. Pennington, 26, at about 11:07 PM, said Sheriff Tom Grills. Pennington told dispatchers she was afraid because an unknown person was beating at her door. She requested officers to come investigate. While on the phone with dispatchers, Pennington had retrieved and loaded a 12-gauge shotgun. Grills said that when she took the safety off, the shotgun discharged, striking Pennington in the lower section of both legs. Police were unable to locate anybody who had been beating at Pennington’s door.
- BELLEVILLE, IL, 7/16/13: An 11-year-old boy who was visiting a Belleville home was accidentally shot to death Tuesday night by a 6-year-old friend. The shooting happened around 11 PM in an upstairs bedroom during a family barbecue at a home in the first block of North 98th Street. Three children, including the victim and the 6-year-old boy, were alone upstairs while adults were gathered on the main floor of the home during the get-together, according to Belleville Det. Mark Heffernan. The handgun was not owned by the residents of the home. "Indications are that the firearm was at the residence temporarily being kept there at the request of an acquaintance of the resident," Heffernan said.
- SPRINGFIELD, OH, 7/16/13: A man alleged to have sold a gun to a Springfield teenager Tuesday night faces charges in the teen’s accidental shooting death just minutes later, police said Wednesday. Dustin Wade, 17, of Hillside Avenue, died after being taken by a friend to Springfield Regional Medical Center. According to Springfield Police Division Chief Stephen Moody, Wade accidentally was shot in the upper torso. Brian Aaron Lee Hill, 26, also of Springfield, was charged Wednesday afternoon with improperly furnishing firearms to a minor and involuntary manslaughter, both of which are felonies. Hill sold a pistol to Wade, knowing he was a minor, Moody said. About 10 to 15 minutes after Wade purchased the gun, it went off in his hands as Wade and his friend were driving in a vehicle, the chief said.
- WASHINGTON, DC, 7/16/13: A man who displayed a loaded weapon at a U.S. Secret Service police booth outside the White House told officers, “I was only going to fire a couple of shots if no one confronted me,” according to court documents. Officers arrested Christopher Wade Briggs in the 700 block of Jackson Place NW Tuesday afternoon. An officer in the police booth saw Briggs, who was not wearing a shirt, take a holstered semi-automatic .45-caliber handgun from a backpack and attach it to his belt, according to court documents. The officer called for backup to assist with the arrest. The gun was loaded with 13 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, according to court documents. A search of Briggs’s backpack found two more magazines filled with 13 rounds and 171 more rounds of .45-caliber, hollow-point ammunition. He also had two hunting knives with serrated edges—one with a 7-inch blade and one with a 12-inch blade. The officers did not find a license to carry or any gun permit in Briggs’s name, and Briggs did not say he had a license to carry or gun permit.
- COLUMBUS, OH, 7/17/13: Columbus police detectives say one man is dead after he was shot in the upper arm at a west side home early Wednesday morning. Officers and medic personnel were called to the 200 block of Westedge Court on a report of a shooting at about 2:32 AM. According to the police report, three men returned from an evening of drinking at a local bar and were examining some firearms. While examining an M-1 Garand Rifle, one of the men depressed the trigger and the rifle discharged, striking one of the other men. John Fisk Jr., 26, was struck in the upper arm, according to police. Prior to his passing, Fisk reportedly told officers that the shooting had been an accident.
- ALBUQUERQUE, NM, 7/17/13: Police were trying to piece together circumstances of a suspected accidental shooting that sent a 12-year-old boy to hospital with a gunshot wound to his lower leg Wednesday. Police were looking for the boy’s 16-year-old brother or brother-in-law, who is believed to have fired the weapon, Albuquerque Police spokesman Simon Drobik said. “It’s looking like it was accidental,” Drobik said outside the scene of the shooting at 737 97th SW, just south of 98th and west Central.
- CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MS, 7/17/13: The 9-year-old boy who died Wednesday morning after being shot at a home in Copiah County has been identified. Copiah County Coroner Ellis Stewart confirms the young victim is Isaac Tervino, of Raymond. Cubit says Tervino was with two other children in a bedroom of the home on Highway 18. Cubit said the two other boys were brothers and Tervino was their cousin. The adults were reportedly in another room of the house eating. One of the other children found a gun, picked it up and fired, striking the 9-year-old above the right eyebrow, Cubit said.
- WALTERBORO, SC, 7/17/13: Walterboro Public Safety officers say a 19-year-old will be charged after a bullet was fired through a wall separating two apartments. Police say they are preparing warrants for 19-year-old Christopher Williams, who will be charged with discharging a firearm into a dwelling. According to an incident report, officers responded to Apartment 5C at 601 Greenpond Highway around 7:15 PM Wednesday after a woman reported hearing a weird noise around her bedroom area. The woman said she heard the noise about 5:30 PM and at first didn’t think anything of it, but her granddaughter then noticed a hole on a wall above the bed and on the ceiling of her bedroom. Officers then contacted a female tenant in Apartment 5B, who allowed officers to investigate the unit. During a search, officers said they were able to confirm the spent round had been fired from her bedroom. According to the report, a picture had been placed over the entry point to conceal the bullet hole.
- ALBANY, OR, 7/17/13: 8:06 PM, Urgent Care Geary Street. A woman came to the clinic with a gunshot wound to her foot. The woman was practice shooting with a pistol east of Albany, and had the hammer cocked back. She was transferring the pistol between hands when it discharged.
- FAIRBANKS, AK, 7/17/13: A man apparently was accidentally shot in the head Wednesday night in South Fairbanks, but police had not been able to locate the victim of the shooting or the person they think is responsible as of Thursday. Fairbanks police received a report just after 7:30 PM Wednesday that the driver of a 2001 Mitsubishi sedan had been shot in the head and the vehicle was in the ditch. “We do believe it was accidental,” Welborn said of the shooting. “It appears the shot came from inside the vehicle.” Based on evidence collected from the one occupant of the vehicle they did talk to, police believe drugs and alcohol were involved in the shooting, Welborn said. The man contacted by police told them he was intoxicated and couldn’t remember what happened.
- WILMINGTON, DE, 7/17/13: Tough guy gets in a fight, pulls a gun, and shoots a nearby 5-year-old. Detectives learned that Laster and another person had fought earlier in the day, and Laster returned to the 1100 block of Pleasant St. with a handgun and began shooting at the other individual that evening, Ivey said. He said the 5-year-old girl was hit by one of those rounds.
- KERSHAW CO., SC, 7/18/13: A Richland County deputy accidently shot himself and needed to be taken to the hospital. It happened in Kershaw County around 1 PM Thursday.
- DECATUR, GA, 7/18/13: DeKalb police officers found a young male around midnight Thursday suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The boy was in the parking lot of Gresham House Apartments on Flat Shoals Road when police found him. Officers believe the youth accidentally shot himself, and continue to investigate. UPDATE: He didn't make it.
- WHITEVILLE, NC, 7/19/13: A gun was accidentally fired inside the Columbus Regional Healthcare System Hospital in Whiteville Friday afternoon. According to police, an officer was transporting a prisoner from the jail to the hospital when a gun discharged. Authorities say the bullet went through the 6th floor to the fifth, but no one was hurt.
- JACKSON TOWNSHIP, OH, 7/19/13: An accidental shooting today sent a 23-year-old man to the hospital via CareFlight. Law enforcement responded to the 13300 block of Speaks Road just before 6 PM on a report of an accidental shooting, according to a statement from the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. Taylor sustained a wound to his upper left thigh and was transported to Miami Valley Hospital by helicopter, according to law enforcement.
- LEXINGTON, KY, 7/19/13: A man cleaning his gun in Lexington accidentally shot his neighbor's home. The incident happened Friday afternoon on Moss Bridge Way. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But it was a close call. Police say her neighbor wasn't playing around, but was cleaning his gun when it accidentally discharged. The bullet shot through his TV, wall, and was stopped by a stud in Tracy's house. "We had this big wood post that was right where the bullet hit into, so it just all worked out everything was fine," said Tracy.
- PORTLAND, ME, 7/19/13: Portland police said Friday night they are still investigating gunshots fired early in the morning on Madison Street, one of which nearly hit a sleeping child and her father. Shots were reported in the city's East Bayside neighborhood at 4:30 AM Friday. Police said callers reported hearing three shots, although they found only one bullet after investigating the incident. Police said they have no reason to suspect the house at 23 Madison St. was targeted. Police said they found a hole in the siding where a single bullet, probably from a handgun, pierced the wall on the side of the house near the second floor and narrowly missed a 9-year-old and her father, who are visiting the area and were sleeping in a bedroom.
- TIFTON, GA, 7/19/13: 30-year-old Keith Edron King reportedly was staying at the victim's girlfriends home that night to keep her safe from some suspicious activity that had been happening in the area. The victim was reportedly coming home late, and when King heard the doorknob begin to turn he acted, shooting one bullet through the door, striking the victim in the chest. King has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault, and the victim is currently at Tift Regional Medical Center and is reportedly in critical condition.
- FRESNO, CA, 7/19/13: Fresno Police have a man under arrest after officers say he fired shots at a car at Farris and Thorne. The shooting happened Friday evening. It all started when the suspect pointed a gun a two people, then took their cellphones and then ran off on foot. Fresno Police describe what happened next, "they chased him and as they got on the side of him he had a gun and started shooting into their window. It looks like while he was shooting he accidentally shot himself in the foot," says officer Joe Gomez.
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