Gun Fail

Tue Dec 17, 2013 at 10:08 PM PST

'I can do anything I want on my property!' he screamed, and fired three more rounds. GunFAIL XLVIII

by David Waldman

Six of 37 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports across the country last week.

 

One of the lightest weeks in child shootings in recent memory. Congratulations, America! I found just three children accidentally shot this week, ages 3, 4, and 8. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any way of just shutting the flow off completely, but it's nice to finally see less than a half dozen or so. Also coming in on the low side were home invasion shootings, GunFAIL incidents involving security guards, and accidental shootings while teaching someone how to use a gun, each happening only once this past week. It was also a light week for guns found in schools. I discovered just one, in Elgin, IL. On the other hand, I also discovered this article, alleging a fairly serious undercounting of guns reportedly found in schools across the state of Ohio last year. By the paper's count, there were some 250 found there in 2012. 

 

The low numbers in some of this week's categories were compensated for by the hunting accidents (5), shooting range accidents (4), accidental discharges by police officers (5), and loaded gun cleanings (2). There were also two accidental discharges in retail establishments this week, one in a Burlington Coat Factory store in Racine, and another in a restaurant in Elizabethtown, KY. Thanks for making us all safer, ninjas!

Among this week's "Holy $#*%@!" stories: the SWAT cop in Chillicothe, OH, who accidentally discharged his weapon immediately before executing a drug raid, while he was still staged outside the suspect's home. Apparently, the officer discharged his rifle at the exact moment they deployed a flash-bang grenade, and nobody even realized he had fired a round until they found a woman inside on the couch, dying of the head wound caused by the round he'd unknowingly put through the outside wall of the house.

And this week's "Holy $#%@!" statistic: 4 in 10 people treated for non-fatal gunshot wounds in Florida hospitals last year had been accidentally shot. That is, they were victims of GunFAIL. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the numbers were even worse in Orange County, where half of all gunshot victims had been accidentally shot. At the same time, fatal accidental shootings skyrocketed, from a fairly regular rate of about two dozen a year, to a 2012 spike of 115.
One more story from the past week that warrants some additional notes, this time on the unseen costs of GunFAIL: a Las Vegas suicide-by-cop, apparently motivated by a man's battle with depression reportedly brought on by ... having been disfigured some years earlier in a GunFAIL incident.

Below the fold, last week's compilation.

1. PASO ROBLES, CA, 9/26/13:  A rural Paso Robles man is awaiting trial after firing bullets into his neighbor’s home while target shooting. Dean Buckley, 59, of Whitley Gardens told police that he did not mean to hit his neighbor’s home while shooting at a water tank in his backyard. “I could easily have been getting a glass of water and taken a bullet to the head,” said Tom Normandy, Buckley’s neighbor. Normandy and his wife were sitting in their living room about 5:30 p.m. Sept. 26, when they heard a gunshot and something hit their home. A second gunshot sent a bullet flying through their kitchen window with a shatter, ricocheting off a wall and cabinet before landing on the kitchen floor. While his wife called 911, Normandy carefully entered his backyard in the direction of fire, yelling through the woods at his neighbor to stop shooting. He yelled that bullets were hitting his home. Normandy said Buckley screamed back, “I can do anything I want on my property,” and fired three more rounds.
2. WELLINGTON, OH, 11/14/13: 4:45 p.m.—200 block Wenner St., police were sent to investigate a report of shots fired inside a residence and found a woman had accidentally fired a revolver while she was moving some firearms inside her apartment. Police said the woman was not injured, but she was visibly distraught.
3. INDIANAPOLIS, IN, 12/07/13: RTV 6 reports that a 3 year old is dead after being shot in the head yesterday evening at his family's home on the 1800 block of East 68th Street. Police responded to the scene after 6 p.m. where they found the boy inside the home suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The child was then rushed to Riley Hospital for Children in critical condition and later died of his injuries. Investigators have indicated that they believe the child accidentally shot himself in the head after he pulled the gun off a kitchen counter. A neighbor to the family said "I've known they had guns; they've carried them in public on their side, they've got permits for them and I just thought they always were a little bit more responsible than that."
4. BOONSBORO, MD, 12/07/13: A male who accidentally shot himself in the arm in a hunting accident in Boonsboro was flown Saturday night to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office assisted on the scene, but Natural Resources Police handled the incident, according to the sheriff’s office. The incident, which happened at about 5:20 p.m., occurred in the 8200 block of Mountain Laurel Road in Boonsboro, according to a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor.
5. SCARBOROUGH, ME, 12/07/13: A 77-year-old man was seriously injured when he accidentally shot himself at the Scarborough Fish & Game firing range at 79 Homes Road in Scarborough. Scarborough Police Sgt. Timothy Barker said the man was alone at the range when he shot himself in the abdomen with a 22 caliber hand gun at 10:55 a.m. Barker said the man, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of his family, managed to call the police and report the accident.
6. ADAMS TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/07/13: Police said a middle-aged Cambria County man died after he was shot Saturday in a hunting accident on the 400 block of Seesetown Road in Adams Township. Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski confirmed the death, but few details were available late Saturday. The coroner said his office and the Pennsylvania Game Commission were interviewing nine members of a hunting party about the death. Cambria County 911 officials said an emergency call came in about 3:30 p.m. for a hunting-related accident. A medical helicopter was called in to assist, but was canceled when the coroner's office was called just after 4 p.m. UPDATE: RIP: Timothy Bruce, 42, of Ashville, Pa.
7. DILLON, MT, 12/07/13: A Missoula hunter was wounded after being accidentally shot by another hunter south of Dillon on Saturday. Beaverhead County Sheriff Jay Hansen says that Jason Baker was hit by bird shot from a shotgun just below the eye by another hunter in his party. Baker was shot after retrieving a duck at the same time another hunter in his party was shooting at some low-flying ducks. Baker and the rest of group were in Dillon promoting the Montana Wounded Warrior Program. UPDATE: The incident that was reported to the sheriff’s office had nothing to do with, nor was it affiliated with, the Montana Wounded Warrior Program. Jason is a mentor to children and on occasion, wounded warriors. [Ed. note: Uh, OK.]
8. RIVERTON, WY, 12/07/13: Police responding to a disturbance call found multiple bullet holes inside an apartment in the 900 block of Forrest Drive. Two women lived in the apartment and one of the women had become despondent so the roommate took control of the gun. A some point a man came into the apartment and asked to see the gun, and apparently accidentally fired it several times while looking at it. The weapon, a .45 caliber handgun, was confiscated by police until the domestic situation could be sorted out.
9. NEW HAVEN, CT, 12/07/13: An 18-year-old Hillhouse High School student said he “accidentally pulled the trigger” of a pistol while engaged in “horseplay” with a 23-year-old friend—firing a shot that left his friend dead. The student, Shunravion Jackson, told that story to police, who arrested him on charges of second-degree manslaughter. That story—the third of three Jackson told police—appears in police reports made public Monday. His third story had him standing near the kitchen table “playing around” with Willett. Someone had a “small black pistol”; it “went off by accident.” Someone then placed the gun on the table. Jackson picked it up “with his right hand” while he “continued to horseplay” with Willett “by jumping on him and trying to give him a bear hug.” They faced each other, close, when Jackson “accidentally squeezed the trigger,” he told detectives. “I forgot I had the gun in my hand,” the report quotes Jackson as saying. “I didn’t know I hit nobody, and then I seen his face, and then he grabbed me, and said, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right.’” Jackson denied knowing to who the pistol belonged.
10. RUSK CO., WI, 12/07/13: Late Saturday afternoon the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department and the DNR received information from the RCMH ER advising that a male subject shot himself in the arm with a 44 Magnum while deer hunting.  No other information was available.
11. MURFREESBORO, TN, 12/07/13: After receiving multiple inquiries about emergency response to a local shooting range on Thompson Lane, WGNS has confirmed that an individual accidentally discharged his weapon and shot himself in the area of his hand on Saturday. A man was accidentally shot at On Target when a round became lodged in his handgun. Emergency personnel responded to the address on Saturday evening and learned the victim had removed the magazine and was racking the slide in an effort to free the bullet. In the process, the gun accidentally fired hitting the man in the area of his pinky at the palm of his hand.
12. BRIGHTON, TN, 12/08/13: A woman in Tipton County reportedly shot and killed her husband early Sunday morning. Just before 6 a.m., deputies responded to a shooting on Highway 14 South in Brighton. When they arrived, deputies said Angela Denise Brewer, 43, told them she accidentally shot her husband. The medical examiner is on the scene. An autopsy will be performed on William Stanford Brewer, Jr., 37. The shooting is still under investigation.
13. MARYVILLE, TN, 12/08/13: Blount County dispatchers reported a man in a Maryville apartment complex was accidentally shot by a juvenile playing with a gun. The report came in at approximately 7:45 p.m., where it was reported that the man was shot in the leg at the Stonetree Apartments on Stonetree Drive near Middlesettlements Road in Maryville. The man’s girlfriend was reported to be taking him via private vehicle to the hospital.
14. MAPLE GROVE, MN, 12/08/13: A woman is recovering after what police believe is an accidental shooting in Maple Grove Sunday night. Squads were dispatched to the Mallard Ridge Apartments at 13301 Maple Knoll Way on reports of a dispute. Originally dispatchers were told that there was a domestic assault taking place where the 911 caller's neighbor was bleeding. That claim was followed by reports of a gunshot. Maple Grove Police eventually determined that an 18-year-old woman had been shot in the neck and had lost a significant amount of blood. She was rushed to the hospital with what are being described as non-life threatening injuries. A 22-year-old male was found on the scene and was taken into custody for reckless discharge of a firearm.
15. RACINE, WI, 12/08/13: Police said they arrested a Milwaukee man after his loaded handgun fell from his pocket and discharged inside a clothing store in Racine. Officers said the man and a woman were shopping at Burlington Coat Factory Saturday when the gunshot struck a metal fixture in the store. No one was hurt. Authorities say the man picked up his gun and both left the store. The man and woman saw surveillance video of the incident posted online and went to the Racine Police Department Sunday. The woman was released. The man was arrested for recklessly endangering safety. Police said the man has a valid concealed carry permit.
16. AUBURN, WI, 12/08/13: A criminal complaint against a pair of Milwaukee men arrested for an armed robbery and shooting in the town of Auburn details how they threatened to shoot residents who were awakened from their sleep with demands to hand over large sums of money. Derrick Johnson, 22, and Dominic Cloyd, 21, both of Milwaukee, were charged Wednesday in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court. Danny Morris, who allegedly drove a vehicle to the home and grabbed money in the robbery, was accidentally shot by Johnson as Johnson searched a backpack. Morris was struck as he stood between the two residents of the home. According to the complaint, Johnson and Cloyd dragged Morris to a vehicle outside the home. Johnson and Cloyd were apprehended when they went to a Hartford hospital to seek help for Morris, who could not move. Morris remains hospitalized at a Milwaukee area hospital. Officials were told Morris has no feeling in his legs.
17. ELIZABETHTOWN, KY, 12/08/13: A man left Fazoli's in an ambulance Sunday after suffering a gunshot wound. He set his pistol on the toilet paper dispenser while using the restroom and it slipped off and shot him in the leg, said Elizabethtown Police Sgt. David Neary. Evidence such as bullet trajectory supported the man's description of events, Neary said. The man did have a concealed carry permit, police said.
18. KANE, PA, 12/08/13: A St. Marys' man accidentally shot himself in the hip in the Nittany Minit Mart at Lantz Corners in Hamlin Township. Daniel Schreiber, 53, of St. Marys, reached for his Winchester 270 rifle, thinking it was unloaded, and accidentally fired a shot that went into his hip, according Kane-based state police.
19. NOBLESVILLE, IN, 12/08/13: A teenager who jumped into an icy reservoir three years ago to save two drowning children has died in a shooting inside an Indiana home. Aubrey Peters, 16, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis late Sunday, hours after she was shot in the chest inside a Noblesville home. Jacob Travis McDaniel, 20, of Noblesville has been charged with reckless homicide and pointing a firearm, both felonies. McDaniel and a group of friends were hanging out at his house Sunday night when he retrieved a handgun, according to court documents, WXIN-TV reported. Authorities say McDaniel tried to get Peters to hold the pistol, but she refused. Believing the gun was empty, McDaniel allegedly pointed the gun at Peters and pulled the trigger, striking Peters. "What just happened?" a witness recalled Peters saying after she'd been shot. A witness also told police that McDaniel allegedly asked everyone present to tell authorities that the gun fell off a table and accidentally went off.
20. MUNCIE, IN, 12/08/13: A Muncie teen’s accidental shooting early Sunday led to an acquaintance’s arrest in a recent convenience store robbery. Devin Xavier Myers, 19—listed at addresses in both Muncie and in Milford, in Kosciusko County—was preliminarily charged with armed robbery and obstruction of justice. Myers is accused of robbing a clerk at the Village Pantry, 101 E. Memorial Dive, on the night of Nov. 27. Myers came into contact with police about 3 a.m. Sunday after a 15-year-old Muncie youth was shot in the leg. While Myers at first told police he and the youth had been shot at by two assailants near Seventh and Hackley streets, both the victim and Myers later admitted the teen had accidentally shot himself at a party. Myers on Oct. 17 was convicted of battery with a deadly weapon, a charge that stemmed from the April 8 shooting of a 17-year-old Muncie youth.
21. LAUREL, MD, 12/08/13: A supermarket shoplifter stole a security guard’s gun and fired shots after an altercation between the two at a Laurel grocery store, officials have confirmed. The security guarded attempted to apprehend the man suspected of shoplifting at the Weis Market in the 3300 block of Corridor Market Place shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday. The suspect overcame the security guard stealing his weapon in the process. The suspect fired off four rounds before leaving the supermarket. There were less than 10 people in the store at the time, according to a statement from Weis Markets, Inc. Police said no one was injured.
22. MARYVILLE, TN, 12/08/13: A woman is facing charges for filing a false report about a shooting. Maryville Police arrested 21-year-old Amanda Paige Hatcher. Police say Hatcher told them she and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Marcus Anthony Hill, were walking in front of the Stonetree Apartments Sunday when someone shot Hill in the leg. Police found no evidence to support that, and later determined Hill accidentally shot himself in the leg while cleaning his gun.
23. DOLAN SPRINGS, AZ, 12/08/13: A Dolan Springs woman survived a gunshot wound to the abdomen Sunday afternoon in what authorities determined was an accidental shooting. Suyapa Calderon, 35, was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center following the 3:20 p.m. incident and later flown by air ambulance to Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas. According to Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Trish Carter, Calderon and her husband and son were leaving their home in the 18000 block of Ocitilla Road to hunt rabbits when the shooting occurred. Calderon's husband climbed down an embankment and she slipped after following him. Her fall, said Carter, caused the .22-caliber rifle to fire a round.
24. SUMMERVILLE, SC, 12/08/13: Multiple witnesses who were inside a Berkeley County nightclub early Sunday say a woman celebrating her friend's birthday was killed by a stray bullet after a fight broke out between members of a motorcycle club and other customers. Several punches were thrown and at least 10 bikers chased a man outside the Moonshine Saloon into the parking lot, witnesses said. April Infinger and Aubrey Cade's husbands shielded them from the commotion as they searched for a safe way to exit, Cade said. Cade then hugged Infinger to say goodbye and to thank her for surprising her with a birthday celebration at the club. Just as they let go, Cade said, she heard a pop and watched as her friend dropped to the ground inside the bar. She turned to look and saw that a bullet had come through the wall from the parking lot. "She fell to her knees and she never came back up," Cade said. Infinger, 32, of Goose Creek, died at a local hospital shortly after she was shot in the back about 12:48 a.m., Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury said.
25. LISBON, OH, 12/09/13: Gilbert Barth Jr., Robert Road, Lisbon, accidentally shot himself in the finger while cleaning his .32-caliber semi-automatic handgun in his basement on Monday.
26. WICHITA, KS, 12/10/13: A man is hospitalized with critical injuries, after accidentally shooting himself at a mobile home in southwest Wichita. It happened in the area of 2200 West MacArthur Road around 2:25 a.m. Tuesday. A witness called 911 after seeing a man walking covered in blood. Police found the man, who was walking to an area QuikTrip for help, and determined that he accidentally shot himself. He had a through-and-through to his hand and left thigh and was rushed to an area hospital. Police say the 36-year-old man suffers from mental problems. Officers found several guns in the mobile home where the shooting occurred.
27. BILLINGS, MT, 12/10/13: The man killed by a gunshot to the head on Tuesday has been identified by authorities. Juan C. Holden, 26, of Billings, was found by police and taken by ambulance to St. Vincent Healthcare, where he died. Deputy Yellowstone County Coroner Chad Fehr, after performing an autopsy on Thursday, said the cause of death was an "accidental gunshot wound to the head." Officers were first called to 37 Washington St., shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday for a report of a shooting incident.
28. LIGHTFOOT, VA, 12/10/13: An alleged gun thief may have given police the clues they needed to find him after slipping and falling in the mud, causing the pistol to discharge. Maj. Stephen Rubino of the James City County Police Department said officers responded to the 4700 block of Minutemen Way in Lightfoot at about 4 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a report of a gunshot. When officers arrived, the person who called in the report told police he heard the gunshot, then discovered a Kel-Tec Model P11 9mm handgun had been stolen from the center console of his son’s unlocked vehicle. Officers found footprints in the mud they tracked to a residence on nearby Mobile Lane, which is located in a trailer park off Centerville Road. At that residence, they found 40-year-old Corey Lavaughn Parrott. Rubino said Parrott told police he stole the pistol and that he slipped and fell in the mud when he was walking, causing the gun to discharge.
29. ST. PETERSBURG, FL, 12/11/13: St. Petersburg police are investigating a bizarre shooting death involving a couple. A 20-year-old girl has been charged with manslaughter after she told police she accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend. Police say Avis and her boyfriend, Michael Ward, were playing with the gun in a home at 1945 2nd Avenue North on Wednesday. It appears drug use was a likely factor. Avis told police she thought the gun was unloaded when she pointed at Ward and pulled the trigger. Ward died at Bayfront Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.
30. PRAIRIEVILLE, LA, 12/11/13: East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies have arrested two Prairieville men in the fatal shooting Wednesday of 22-year-old Jared Christopher Vincent. The shooting, which happened about 5 a.m. at Vincent’s townhouse complex on Ridge Pecan Drive, also injured one other man and appears to be drug related, authorities said. Casey Rayborn Hicks, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said detectives found a large amount of marijuana inside the apartment as well as evidence of a struggle. Aaron Hargrove, 19, 39155 Lee Stevens Road, Prairieville, told detectives he went to Vincent’s apartment Wednesday morning to buy marijuana, sheriff’s officials said. “He stated he saw one of the men flee from the apartment, at which time he admitted to shooting him in the back,” Hicks said. Deputies also booked Patrick Anderson, 20, 41060 Merrit Evans Road, Prairieville, with obstruction of justice. “Anderson told detectives that a family member arrived at his home with blood on his clothes and in possession of several pistols,” Hicks said. “The family member allegedly told Anderson that the pistols had been used in a shooting in Baton Rouge earlier that morning. Anderson agreed to clean the pistols and hide them.” Anderson told authorities that a pistol had accidentally fired and struck him while he was unloading it.
31. COVINGTON, LA, 12/11/13: A Covington police captain is now on paid administrative leave after accidentally discharging a weapon inside the police station earlier this week. Capt. Jack West accidentally discharged the shotgun on Wednesday, while demonstrating it to a new recruit. Police Chief Tim Lentz said West claimed he didn't know the gun was loaded. The shot left a hole in the ceiling.
32. CHILLICOTHE, OH, 12/11/13: Authorities say a woman was killed in an accidental shooting by a law-enforcement officer during a drug raid in rural central Ohio. A prosecutor in Ross County, south of Columbus, said 35-year-old Krystal Barrows, was accidentally shot in the head Wednesday night after officers entered a home to conduct the raid. Prosecutor Matt Schmidt tells the Chillicothe Gazette that it wasn't clear whether the gunfire was the result of a weapon malfunction or user error. The county sheriff's office wouldn't answer questions about the shooting. UPDATE: At some point an officer's gun went off outside the house. Lavender said when officers raided the home, they found Barrows sitting on the couch bleeding from her head. The bullet had traveled through the mobile home walls and hit Barrows.
33. JACKSONVILLE, FL, 12/12/13: A civilian police officer employed with the United States Marine Corps Support Facility at Blount Island accidentally shot himself Thursday morning while training at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office firing range at 4727 Lannie Road, according to police. The unidentified federal police officer was putting his handgun in his holster at about 10:55 a.m. when he shot himself in the leg, base deputy commander Jim Hooks said. “The trigger was pulled and he shot a round through his calf,” Hooks said.
34. LEON, NY, 12/12/13: An 8-year-old Amish boy is listed in stable condition at a Dunkirk hospital after he was accidentally shot with a .22-caliber gun by his 14-year-old brother in the family’s Leon home. Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Capt. Robert Buchhardt said the shooting occurred about 8:30 a.m. at the William Wengerd home on West Road in the town of Leon. After the boys’ parents had left the house, the brothers began playing with weapons used for hunting that were in the home. “The 14-year-old brother picked up a .22 gun and shot the 8-year-old in the chest,” Capt. Buchhardt said from the scene. “He didn’t know the gun was loaded. It was an accident.” It was not clear whether the gun was a handgun or a long rifle, he said. With their parents gone and not having a telephone to call 911, the three brothers transported the injured boy to a neighbor’s house. The residents had a cell phone and called 911, Capt. Buchhardt said.
35. TULSA, OK, 12/12/13: A man was taken to the hospital early Thursday after his girlfriend accidentally shot him inside their apartment. Tulsa police said the shooting happened about 1 a.m. at the Westminster Apartments, 4858 S. 78th East Ave., Cpl. Randy Solomon said. Cheyenne Monique Cunningham, 22, told police that her boyfriend, DeAndre Wilson, 22, had recently purchased a gun and wanted to show her how to use it, Solomon said. The small semi-automatic weapon accidentally fired, striking Wilson once in the stomach, police said.
36. TINICUM TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/12/13: A car pursuit that began in Delaware County culminated in South Philadelphia and police are now searching for two suspects who fled the scene. Around 8:15 p.m. Thursday police from Tinicum Township notified Philadelphia authorities about a van they were in pursuit of that contained four suspects of a retail theft. The chase was along Northbound I-95 and wound its way off the freeway and onto Columbus Boulevard then down to Broad Street. During the pursuit, a Tinicum Township officer accidentally discharged a firearm, but no one was hit.
37. RAPID CITY, SD, 12/12/13: Rapid City police say a toddler who found an unsecured handgun inside a home accidentally shot his mother in the leg as she tried to get it away. Police spokeswoman Tarah Heupel says the revolver fired two shots, one of which hit the woman, during the incident just after 9 p.m. Thursday. The mother was taken to the hospital for treatment, but Heupel says the injury did not appear to be serious. The mother tried to get the revolver away from the 23-month-old boy as soon as she noticed he was holding it.
38. MEDARYVILLE, IN, 12/12/13: A 54-year-old man was being treated Thursday at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn after he shot himself in his hand, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Timothy P. Tackett, of Porter, on Wednesday afternoon was at the Jasper Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area shooting range adjusting a sight on his rifle when it fell, according to a news release from the Indiana DNR. The gun went off and hit Tackett's right hand. He drove himself to Porter Regional Hospital but was later transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center. According to the news release, Tackett did not know his rifle was loaded when he was adjusting the sight.
39. LAFAYETTE, IN, 12/12/13: Lafayette police are ruling a gunshot that grazed a southside resident’s head Thursday night an accident. Around 9 p.m. Thursday, police were called to a home at the 2500 block of Edgelea Drive, said Lafayette Police Dept. Lt. Brad Hayworth. Hayworth said several people were in the house playing video games when one person was handling a gun that accidentally went off. The bullet grazed the back of one person’s head. The person did go to the hospital for treatment but was not seriously injured, Hayworth said. The shooting was deemed an accident and is no longer under investigation, he added.
40. WESLEY CHAPEL, FL, 12/12/13: When Walter Santiago heard the bang and felt a pain on the side of his head while driving in Wesley Chapel, he figured something had broken off his car and flown in through the open driver's side window. His granddaughter looked at the blood streaming from his temple and knew different. "You've been shot," she said. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said a bullet, probably fired from far away, came through the window and glanced off the 62-year-old Wesley Chapel man's head just above his left temple. Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Tobin said the shot must have been fired far away because the bullet glanced off Santiago's head and bounced around after entering the car. The bullet came through the window on a downward trajectory, Tobin said, hitting the the car's seat near Santiago's right thigh after bouncing off his head. The bullet then bounced up, cracking the front windshield and coming to rest on the passenger's side floor board, he said.
41. GARY, IN, 12/13/13: A 4-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the shoulder Friday morning with a gun belonging to his mother’s boyfriend, police said. The child found the gun under the couch at his family’s home in the 1900 block of Rhode Island Street.
42. KNOXVILLE, TN, 12/13/13: A spokesperson with the Knox County Sheriff's Department says an officer at the Detention Center in East Knox County accidentally discharged his gun injuring three fellow officers Friday night. According to the sheriff's website, a bullet from Officer James Blankenship's gun fired into the pavement causing shrapnel to strike three other officers. This happened around 10:30 p.m. One was taken to UT Medical Center to be treated for a minor leg wound. He was released. The other two were treated at the jail.
43. ATLANTIC CITY, NJ, 12/13/13: A man suffered a self-inflicted and apparently accidental gunshot wound to his leg while seated in his car Friday night at Resorts Casino Hotel, police said. The man was seated inside his car and was showing the legally registered firearm to a witness in the case, police said. The witness reported the gun accidentally discharged.
44. TRENTON, NJ, 12/13/13: Police are trying to find out whether a city man accidentally shot himself Friday afternoon, then refused to cooperate with investigators. The 26-year-old showed up at St. Francis Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his left forearm shortly after 2:30 p.m. Police are unsure whether he shot himself. “It could be possible,” said Lt. Mark Kieffer, a police spokesman. “No scene was located and there was no 911 call for shots fired.” The East Ward resident walked into the St. Francis emergency room alone. Hospital staff called police and notified them of the shooting, Kieffer said. The victim was “extremely uncooperative” and would not give police any information, according to Kieffer.

Originally posted to David Waldman on Tue Dec 17, 2013 at 10:08 PM PST.