Gun Fail

Sat Jul 13, 2013 at 06:44 PM PDT

GunFAIL XXVI

by David Waldman


Things show no sign of stopping. So I'll just get right to it, then. Two of our entrants shot themselves while cleaning loaded guns. Six cops (or other law enforcement officers) were involved in GunFAIL incidents, ranging from shooting themselves, to shooting their partners, to shooting innocent bystanders, to leaving their guns on top of their cars and driving off. Five people who had made the choice not to venture out into the wider world nonetheless had their homes invaded by other people's bullets. There were four incidents of gun-owning Americans experiencing their FAIL while out practicing at a gun range (real or imagined). Two more incidents of celebratory gunfire which came to light (plus an amazing extra one, listed below, that I'd missed at New Year's). One shooting that took place during a session of practice on what to do if confronted by an intruder. Two shooting incidents at restaurants. And two civilian carriers who accidentally shot themselves at work.

The kid victims of GunFAIL this week were ages 2, 4, 6, 11, 16 and 16.

This week's compilation, plus two additional special events of note, appear below.

Before we get to this week's list, the July 4th "celebratory gunfire" stories have unearthed one amazing example that I missed from New Year's Eve 2013:

JACKSONVILLE, FL, 1/01/13: Pilot Graham Hill was just looking for a good view of the downtown fireworks when he took his girlfriend for a New Year's Eve flight over downtown Jacksonville. Instead, he was met by gunfire. "We were just north of the football stadium, at 1,200 feet when there was a loud pop. [...] And that's when I noticed the bullet hole. And so I let her know that we had been shot at, and just when I said that I felt blood running down my neck." In a YouTube video, Hill says he handed the controls to his girlfriend when he realized he'd been shot in the head, and  used his jacket to staunch the bleeding. They landed safely at Craig Field. And he appears to have taken the incident with a dose of good humor, even posting this X-ray as his Facebook profile photo.

And one example that doesn't involve GunFAIL, per se, but maybe a GunPolicyFAIL:

MILWAUKEE, WI, 6/26/13: Two Milwaukee men—each with a state permit to carry a concealed weapon—traded dozens of shots in a rolling shootout through two sides of town and down a freeway, the kind of Wild West scenario concealed carry opponents warned would turn road rage incidents deadly. No one was killed or injured in the June 26 incident, according to a criminal complaint that charges just one of the men with a crime. Prosecutors aren't saying any more about the case, and the shooters couldn't be found for comment Friday. But the gunfight is bound to spark more debate over concealed carry.

1.     PACIFIC, MO, 6/27/13: A 65-year-old Pacific man recently shot himself in the hand while cleaning a handgun, says Capt. Ralph Brown of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. At about 9 p.m. June 27, the man was at his home in the 2200 block of Grimm Lane and began cleaning his 9mm Glock handgun, which accidentally went off and a bullet traveled through the victim’s left hand, Brown said.
2.     ROCHESTER, NY, 6/27/13: The innocent bystander wounded in an officer-involved shooting last Thursday was hit by a police officer’s bullet, the Rochester Police Department announced Wednesday evening. Ballistics tests have determined that Gene McDougal, 47, of Henrietta, was hit by a bullet fired from the department-issued firearm of Sgt. Flamur Zenelovic as he was defending himself in a gunfight with homicide suspect Ralph Strong.
3.     FAIRBANKS, AK, 6/30/13: Shane C. Huntsbury 40, of Fairbanks, was charged with second-degree felony weapons misconduct for allegedly firing a gun recklessly in a residential area June 30, shooting at a home on the 1600 block of Market Street. Fairbanks police said there was a large hole in a mirror next to the front door and the wall. Huntsbury told troopers he was trying to clear the gun when it discharged. He said he then went outside and fired four more times into the ground. He register a breath-alcohol content of 0.244.
4.     GERMANTOWN, WI, 7/03/13: A resident on Armada Drive called police after he accidentally discharged his gun inside his residence at 6:52 p.m. July 3. The police log did not state whether or not a citation was issued.
5.     PETALUMA, CA, 7/04/13: A 15-year-old Petaluma boy suspected of accidentally shooting a truck was arrested Monday, Petaluma police said. The boy was apparently shooting a .22 caliber rifle on July 4 at a target on a tree in the backyard and did not realize he missed the target, Petaluma Police Sgt. Marty Frye said. The bullets shot through a wood fence and struck the pickup, which was parked on Wood Sorrel Drive, Frye said. On July 6, a passerby noticed several bullet holes on the pickup and called police, Frye said. The person collected several bullets and gave them to an officer. A bullet had penetrated the fuel tank and caused a small leak.
6.     JACKSONVILLE, AL, 7/04/13: Calhoun County Deputies today were investigating a near-miss with a bottle rocket and a bullet hole in a family’s glass door, both of which may have been cause by Independence Day revelry gone too far. Calhoun County Sgt. Jon Garlick said a family discovered on Friday the glass door of their home on Angel Station Drive near Jacksonville had been shattered. They also discovered a dent in their wall made by a .40-caliber bullet, which they found on their floor, the sergeant said.
7.     MIAMI, FL, 7/04/13: The Blackburns also dealt with what has become a less happy tradition in their neighborhood—celebratory gunfire. The family lives in Morningside Park, where—according to Blackburn—gunfire can be heard every Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve. This year, his wife found a bullet that had pierced the back windshield of the family’s car parked in their driveway after she and the children walked home from a fireworks show, “The windshield was completely shattered,” Blackburn said. “I found bullet fragments in the back.”
8.     LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA, 7/04/13: I feel like I've seen this somewhere before. A 6-year-old Lake Arrowhead boy was shot by his 5-year-old playmate on Independence Day after the boys found an unsecured, loaded pistol in an unlocked closet and used it to play cops and robbers, a sheriff's report says. Sheriff's Capt. Rick Ells said the accidental shooting occurred at the home of the older boy's grandparents, in the 300 block of Oak Drive.
9.     WILLIAMSPORT, PA, 7/04/13: Derrick Wayne Moyer, of 621 Grier St., surrendered to police on Thursday afternoon to face charges of allegedly firing several shots into a crowd, resulting in one of the bullets striking a 16-year-old boy in the back. Moments after the shooting, Moyer accidentally shot himself in the right leg "as he was attempting to flee the scene," according to a police affidavit that was released with the teen's arrest. Moyer said he shot himself in the leg while he was "attempting to conceal the gun."
10.     ALEXANDRIA, VA, 7/04/13: 9:20 p.m., July 4, 8600 block of Walutes Circle, Officers were called for a shooting. Allegedly, Kadeem Allen, 22, of Alexandria, was handling a handgun when it unintentionally discharged.
11.     HAVERHILL, MA, 7/05/13: An afternoon on the golf course took a sudden dangerous turn for four local men on Friday when gunfire from a nearby Haverhill farm interrupted their league match at Far Corner Golf Club. “Bullets came flying across the fairway — five or six maybe — before it stopped,” said Vincent Dalessandro, Jr., of North Andover. “I’ve got enough trouble with my golf game, I don’t need that.” Police quickly responded to Crescent Farm on Willow Avenue in Haverhill, where they found Corey Willis, of 130 Oxford Ave., holding a black .40 caliber Glock handgun. Willis, who works as a Haverhill firefighter, told police he was target shooting. He was not arrested and will not be charged in the incident. One of the golfers, Edward Snell of North Andover, said the foursome heard shots fired in the distance — which isn’t uncommon giving the course’s proximity to the Haverhill Hound, Rod & Gun Club. But then Snell said a bullet kicked up a divot in the fairway. A second bullet was heard traveling overhead through the canopy of some nearby trees, prompting them to take cover, he said.
12.     LEAVENWORTH, WA, 7/05/13: The Chelan County sheriff's office says a heavily intoxicated Leavenworth man fired several rounds from a shotgun during an argument with a woman early Friday and hit his 2-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. Buckshot injuries to the children are described as minor.
13.     MERCED, CA, 7/05/13:  Officials are not releasing the name of a Merced police officer who shot himself by accident Friday. “We don’t give out officers’ names,” said Lt. Andre Matthews. The veteran officer was placing his gun in his holster, Matthews said, during routine monthly training at Merced Police Department’s firing range on Gove Road when the firearm went off. The officer was hit in the leg by the bullet, and taken by helicopter to a Modesto-area hospital. No disciplinary actions will be taken on the injured officer as it was “a work-related accident,” Matthews said. “As training happens, accidents are going to happen,” he said.
14.     WAYNE, OK, 7/05/13: What started out as two friends practicing to stop an intruder ended with one of the men getting shot in the chest. Last Friday just after 8 p.m. Heath Pope, 34 of Wayne, took the magazine out of his weapon and thought the chamber was empty. Rocky V. Trammell, 38 of Washington, entered the house at 29911 150th Street in Wayne with Pope pulling the weapon out of its holster. When he fired the weapon, Trammell took a single gun shot to his chest.
15.     FROSTBURG, MD, 7/06/13: Authorities in Allegany County say a Baltimore man has died after an apparent accidental shooting. The county sheriff’s office says 35-year-old Marvin Bickling was found suffering from a gunshot wound on Saturday evening at a storage shed facility on Shaft Road in Frostburg. Bickling was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
16.     NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX, 7/06/13: A 24-year-old North Richland Hills man was fatally wounded Saturday night after a shotgun being handled by a friend accidentally discharged, sheriff’s officials said. Ryan Madson had been in another room of the residence when a pellet from the buckshot traveled through the room’s sheetrock, striking him in the head, said Terry Grisham, a spokesman with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Grisham said several people were at the residence in the 7700 block of Peden Road in unincorporated Tarrant County when the shooting occurred about 8 p.m. He said the shooter’s wife called 911, reporting that her husband had accidentally shot his friend in the forehead.
17.     TOLEDO, OH, 7/06/13: Police are trying to determine whether a Glenwood Avenue man was shot by an unknown assailant or accidentally shot himself. Darnell Glover, 31, was at Wade and Knapp streets at 1:50 a.m. Saturday, after leaving a party at Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza, when he was shot in the right leg and groin area, according to a police report. The victim told police he was walking across a parking lot when he heard arguing, heard three gunshots, and felt a sharp pain. No suspect description was available.
18.     MONROEVILLE, PA, 7/06/13: Chief Steven Pascarella said one of his officers changed out of his uniform in the department’s lot, and set his utility belt on his pickup truck. The officer forgot it was there then drove home. On the parkway across the Liberty Bridge, more than 12 miles from the police station. Several items from the belt were lost then found, but not his gun or Taser until Monday.
19.     FAIRBANKS, AK, 7/06/13: A man on the 1200 block of Fourth Avenue reported he returned from vacation Saturday and found a bullet hole through his bed and ceiling, according to Fairbanks police logs.
20.     OLALLA, WA, 7/06/13: Evidence will be forwarded to the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office after a 27-year-old man was shot on July 6 in South Kitsap. According to a Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies responded to the “accidental shooting” about 5 p.m. in the 15300 block of Bandix Road SE in Olalla. They found the victim shot in the upper thigh. A 30-year-old Lacey man told deputies he was looking at a 9-millimeter Glock semi-automatic pistol that was left on a deck table. The man said he didn’t check to see if the gun was loaded. While he was testing the pistol’s finger pull pressure, it fired and struck the victim in the left leg, while he was standing by a barbecue grill. The firearm belong to a friend of the victim’s.
21.     BROOKLYN, NY, 7/07/13: [Off-duty corrections officer] Waldy Montalvo, 38, was double parked on Berry St. near South 1st St. in Williamsburg when another vehicle pulled up behind him, cops said.  Montalvo, who police say had been drinking, told the driver behind him to get lost. When the driver refused, Montalvo whipped out a gun and said, “You better move your vehicle,” according to cops.  Montalvo was arrested at 4:36 a.m. for menacing, criminal possession of a weapon and driving under the influence of alcohol, officials said.
22.     YOUNGSTOWN, OH, 7/07/13: Although investigators are treating Sunday's fatal shooting of a 4-year-old on the city's north side as a homicide, police said it appears the boy's death was accidental. Police confirmed Raytwon Briggs died after being shot around 11 p.m. at a residence on Fairgreen Avenue. The boy's grandmother told police the boy and two other children, ages 1 and 5, were playing with the gun in a bedroom when the gun went off. Initial reports indicate the boy fatally shot himself through the head while with two other children.
23.     ARANSAS PASS, TX, 7/07/13: A night of working on a truck turns deadly when a friend's handgun goes off, killing a man. It happened Sunday night as a group of friends in Aransas Pass were winding down their holiday weekend barbecuing outside. Friends of Fodie Green the man who died last night call the events that unfolded,a freak accident. Green's shoe still sits next to the truck he worked on Sunday night Green had gone over to his friend's Jerald Maynard home with Billy Gay to work on Maynard's work truck brakes. The men needed to lift the truck up, so Gay got the jack out of his trunk. Inside the trunk he not only removed the jack, but also a hand gun he'd stored too. "He went to break it open to see if it was loaded, when he went to break it open the gun went off, shot through his hand," says Maynard. That shot then struck Green right in the neck.
24.     DELTA, WI, 7/07/13: A Bayfield County teenager who accidentally shot himself Sunday initially claimed he was shot by a stranger to avoid getting into trouble with his family. Bayfield County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a Delta Township address around 7 p.m. for a report that a 16-year-old boy had been shot by someone attempting to steal items from his father’s truck. Investigators determined that the boy had accidentally shot himself in the lower leg with a .22-caliber pistol and “was afraid … he would get into trouble with his family,” a news release said.
25.     DANBURY, CT, 7/07/13: Would you like some fresh ground pepper on your salad? How about being peppered with gunfire? Danbury Police were called to the Market Place Restaurant, 33 Mill Plain Road, Sunday at about 7:45 p.m. on a report of shots fired. Police said the caller heard a gun go off and found a bullet on the floor. Police spoke to witnesses who described eating at their table and hearing a loud popping noise and then having debris fly onto their table. Police found a bullet hole near a booth and by figuring the trajectory, they determined the bullet came from an office within the restaurant. Police said they interviewed the owner, Elias Hawli, 29, of Danbury. Hawli initially denied discharging the firearm, but police realized he had placed a plaque up on the wall to conceal the bullet hole in the office. Hawli then admitted that the gun accidentally went off. What a Responsible Gun Owner!TM
26.     AFOGNAK ISLAND, AK, 7/07/13: 42-year-old Evergreen Timber employee Rick Aschenbrenner had accidentally caused the shotgun in his possession to discharge striking 42-year-old Shawn Strauss while preparing to go beach combing on Afognak Island. According to the report, Aschenbrenner was removing the shotgun from the driver's side of the vehicle when it caught on something, and while pushing it back to its spot, the shotgun discharged hitting Strauss, who was sitting on the passenger side, in the leg.
27.     SAN ANTONIO, TX, 7/08/13: A man attempting to shoot his ex-girlfriend was stopped thanks to the intervention of his current girlfriend. Or at least, his then-current girlfriend. Since this is Texas, somebody's gotta get shot. Who? The then-current girlfriend, of course.
28.     TYLER, TX, 7/08/13: Respected Precinct 3 Constable Eddie Lee was back at work Thursday after accidentally discharging his weapon Monday and shooting himself in the left  leg – a wound that required immediate surgery. Lee said was at a friend's home in Tyler Monday when a five-shot Derringer he had in his pocket accidentally fired. He required immediate medical attention. “Somehow, someway, I accidentally cocked it and put enough pressure on it that it shot me,” Lee explained.
29.     PUEBLO, CO, 7/08/13: A fatal shooting earlier this week was determined to have been 'accidental', according to Pueblo police. It was July 8th when 18-year-old Michael Bailey was killed in the self-inflicted accidental shooting on Creston Drive. According to police, Bailey was seen playing with a handgun. The gun then went off and struck him. UPDATE: Veronica Eitemiller said her son went to a neighboring party with a gun he was given by his great-grandfather. She said the family thought the gun wasn’t functional but “it was kids partying and doing what they shouldn’t had been doing.”
30.     STATE COLLEGE, PA, 7/09/13: Don't bother taking any extra care or anything when picking up the gun you dropped, while your hands are still full of shopping bags. I mean, what's the point, right? A 45-year-old man shot himself in the hand Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot outside Wal-Mart on North Atherton Street in what police are calling an accident. Patton Township police are not identifying the man but said he had a valid firearm carry permit. The man had the gun in a holster and was hurrying across the parking lot to avoid holding up traffic. The firearm fell out of the hostler and fell to the ground as the man was crossing the lot. Police said he went to pick the gun up, but while shifting the bags in his hands, the firearm went off. The man was shot in the hand, and the bullet then continued into the pavement.
31.     EDINA, MO, 7/09/13: A Heartland teenager was airlifted to a Columbia hospital after he was apparently accidentally shot Tuesday afternoon in Edina. The shooting happened around 2 p.m. at a home on West Jackson Street. A source who spoke to KTVO on condition of anonymity said the victim is Logan Allen, 15, of Edina. Officials said Allen and another boy were hanging out Tuesday afternoon when Allen was accidentally shot in the back of the head with a firearm. UPDATE: He didn't make it.
32.     LEXINGTON, KY, 7/09/13: Lexington police arrested a man after a bullet went through the wall of a home Tuesday night. Police say Damon Burchfield, 23, fired a shot from a home on Forest Green Drive, and the bullet went trough a wall of a home nearby on Lori Drive. According to court documents, the bullet nearly hit a person inside that house.
33.     MONROE, OH, 7/09/13: Homeowners in Monroe’s Applegate subdivision and along Lakeview Drive are concerned about their safety and property after at least two homes there have been hit by stray bullets in the past two weeks. Monroe police said Tuesday that investigators discovered a .308 caliber bullet in the backyard of a home in the 2000 block of Appleridge Court, and they believe it came from a rifle. Meanwhile, Melissa Lamb, who lives along Lakeview Drive, said she and her husband found two bullet holes in the siding of their ranch-style home on June 28. Houses located along Lakeview Drive and Appleridge Court are about 100 to 150 yards away from a wooded area. Some homeowners said they believe a group of teenagers is firing weapons at targets in those woods. Mindy Rump, a mother of four, also discovered a bullet hole in the back of her house on Appleridge Court, which backs up to the wooded area. She said she’s been hearing a lot of gunfire in the area since February. Rump’s neighbor Steve Nichols filed a police report last month. According to the report, one bullet damaged his siding and dry wall and a second bullet hit his back deck. Police estimated the damage at $150.
34.     ESTHERVILLE, IA, 7/09/13: 19-year-old Sierrah Rivera and 18-year-old Dylan Petersen, both of Estherville, were at Cheever Lake 1 1/2 miles southwest of Estherville shooting a .22 caliber rifle when Rivera slipped and fell while holding the loaded rifle. As Rivera fell the rifle discharged striking Petersen in the left bicep.
35.     ARIZONA CITY, AZ, 7/09/13: A woman accidentally shot herself in the shoulder Tuesday  in the 12000 block of West Carousel Drive in Arizona City.
36.     ALBANY, GA, 7/10/13: Police officials were in the process of filing reckless conduct charges against Jeremy Wilson Thursday in connection with an apparent accidental shooting Wednesday at an Albany laboratory. Phyllis Banks, spokeswoman for the Albany Police Department, said Wilson will be charged in the accidental shooting of Claude Scott Lucas, 63, in the right side of his abdomen. Wilson, an independent contractor for Albany Area Laboratory, 1711 E. Broad Ave., reportedly was clearing his semi-automatic weapon within laboratory premises when the weapon discharged. According to Banks, the bullet struck Wilson in one hand before striking Lucas.
37.     MIDLAND, TX, 7/10/13: A 17-year-old Midlander is being held on a $75,000 bond for a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an alleged accidental shooting. Eric Isaiah Aguirre, who was arrested Thursday, told police he accidentally shot someone he knew with a handgun during the late hours of July 10, according to his arrest affidavit. Police responded to a shots-fired call at about 10:44 p.m. Thursday in the 3100 block of South County Road 1224 and found someone had been shot. After the victim was transported to Midland Memorial Hospital, Aguirre said he accidentally fired the gun after showing it off, according to the affidavit.
38.     ST. LOUIS, MO, 7/11/13: St. Louis police said one of its officers is expected to be okay after another policeman accidentally shot him. Authorities said the incident occurred close to 11 a.m. Thursday in the 3700 of Keokuk in south St. Louis. Police said the two officers were responding to a theft call when a dog began attacking the victim. Concerned about his partner, the other officer attempted to shoot the dog but police said the bullets hit the victim in the ear and arm.
39.     DALLAS, TX, 7/11/13: Dallas police arrested a man Thursday for what he said is the accidental shooting and killing of a woman Thursday morning at a Red Bird-area apartment. Rickey Jackson, 19, was taken into custody and faces a manslaughter charge for the death of Shakeydra Freeney. Freeney died after she was shot in the face early Thursday morning in the apartment in the 7300 block of Chaucer Place at the time of the shooting. Jackson told police he was playing with a shotgun and pulled the trigger without a round in the chamber. He continued to play with the firearm and again pulled the trigger - this time firing the gun in the face of Freeney.
40.     WARREN, MI, 7/12/13: A Warren electrical inspector was in stable condition at lunch hour July 12 after police said it appeared he accidentally shot himself in the lower body with a handgun while in an employee area at City Hall. According to Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, the 62-year-old employee was in a restroom on the third-floor of City Hall, east of Van Dyke and north of 12 Mile Road, and reportedly emerged to claim he accidentally shot himself in the leg. Fouts said state law has seemingly “preempted local control” with respect to concealed weapons and that it didn’t appear there was a policy in place governing firearms at Warren’s City Hall. “He has a license. The state Legislature has preempted all action on the part of the city, unless I’m wrong,” Fouts said. “The Legislature has basically stated that anyone can carry a gun anywhere.”
41.     ERIE, PA, 7/12/13: Erie Police are piecing together information this afternoon about a shooting that injured a 16-year-old girl. According to police, the girl was reportedly shot in the leg in a house in the 200 block of East 28th Street around 4:30 this morning. Police say the girl says she accidentally shot herself in the leg. There was a 19-year-old man from Pittsburgh inside the home at the time the gun was fired.
42.     LITTLETON, CO, 7/12/13: A Flight for Life helicopter landed at Lockheed Martin after an accidental shooting at the Waterton Canyon facility. The plant has a shooting range on the property open to employees and non-employees, which is where the shooting took place, said Chip Eschenfelder, Lockheed Martin spokesman. "A bullet ricocheted and hit someone," he said. It is unclear whether the person shot is an employee.
43.     ROY, UT, 7/12/13: A man was hospitalized after shooting himself while cleaning a gun. Roy Police Sgt. Rick Morgan said the shooting happened around 8:30 p.m., near 4800 South. The man was at a friend’s house and accidentally shot himself in the hand with a 9 mm handgun.
44.     LOGAN, UT, 7/12/13: On July 12, 2013, Logan City Police Department was dispatched to a report of suicidal man with a gun . The complainant stated 67 year old Paul Holman was intoxicated, at his friends house located at 570 East 170 South and threatening suicide. Officers responded and set up a perimeter around the house and began negotiating Mr. Holman. Officers were able to observe Mr. Holman while negotiating with him and could see he was holding a firearm. After 40 minutes of negotiation with Mr. Holman, he agreed to relinquish control of the firearm. In his attempt to stand, Mr. Holman accidentally fired the handgun into the grass in front of him. There was no injury or damage to property as a result of the accidental discharge.
45.     LOWER MOUNT BETHEL TOWNSHIP, PA, 7/12/13: A restaurant waitress is fortunate to be alive after police said she was struck by a stray bullet while on the job Friday. The waitress, whose name has not been released, was working on the deck of the Riverside Bar and Grille on Route 611 in Lower Mount Bethel Twp., Northampton Co., when she was hit in the back by the bullet. The bullet that hit the waitress appears to be a .22 caliber, said police, who were not sure where it came from.

Originally posted to David Waldman on Sat Jul 13, 2013 at 06:44 PM PDT.