Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Gun Fail

Six of 31 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports around the country last week.
Six of 31 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports around the country last week.
You'd think Christmas week would be a slow week for GunFAIL incidents. But all that actually slowed down was the number of guns found in schools, since most schools were closed for the better part of the week, if not all week long. Instead, those kids were at home, in some cases, with nothing better to do than accidentally shoot one another, or get accidentally shot. In fact, I found fifteen kids who were accidentally shot last week. And in a bizarre, if not particularly significant twist, six of them were 14-year-olds. Shockingly, we also saw our record for the youngest GunFAIL victim shattered, when an infant of just 2 months of age was accidentally shot and killed in East Lampeter, PA. The other child victims of GunFAIL last week were aged 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17 and 17.
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Among our other running statistical categories, two cops were involved in GunFAIL incidents, as were four target/recreational shooters, and five hunters. Six gun owners gave their neighbors the opportunity to greet their bullets as liberators, and six more freed their bullets from the bonds of captivity while cleaning their guns. Finally, two more awesome Minute Men accidentally discharged their weapons in retail stores and restaurants last week, scoring direct hits on one counter and one (undoubtedly red, white and blue) ass cheek.
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Also of special note from last week: the Pennsylvania man who decided to punctuate a domestic argument by pounding a rifle on the floor, which then discharged and shot his daughter, upstairs, and; the Colorado man who mistook his 14-year-old step-daughter for an intruder and shot her to death as she tried to sneak back into the house. But that was only the first of two GunFAILs in Colorado Springs for the week. It's a relatively GunFAIL-y place, actually. These two incidents are their 13th and 14th appearances in our lists. But that's over only 10 weekly lists. In other words, this is actually the third time Colorado Springs has appeared more than once inside of a single week's list.
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If you were on the lookout for the first clearly-labeled Christmas gift gun to end up accidentally shooting someone, I think we have it here, in the Kentucky man who shot himself cleaning the pistol he gave his girlfriend as a gift. I don't know how badly it could have needed a cleaning after only two days of ownership. But then again, if they were out shooting it already because they were so excited about it, then it's hard to understand why he wouldn't have checked to see if it was loaded before cleaning it. Then again, it's something you're really supposed to do every time, anyway.
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But if everybody did what they were supposed to do, every time, this list would presumably be a lot shorter. And it isn't. And if you have any doubts about its future, search the #AR15 hashtag on Twitter for pictures of people posing in their homes with their brand new rifles, very often with their fingers on the trigger. Or better yet, see for yourself by scrolling back to Christmas day in Brandon Friedman's Twitter feed. You might also note the number of such rifles presented as gifts (at some rather steep prices, too), versus, say, the number of them confiscated by Obama.
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Anyway, no, the list is not particularly short. So without further ado, I present it to you, below the fold.
  1. PORT CLINTON, OH, 11/11/13: An Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office deputy assigned as a corrections officer discharged a firearm inside the Ottawa County Detention Facility on Nov. 11, according to OCSO reports. The reports say Deputy Matt Gandee was showing a Springfield XDM semi-automatic handgun to another deputy, who was thinking about buying a similar model, when the incident occurred. The reports say Gandee had retrieved the weapon from a personal vehicle to show it to the other deputy. A single round was fired into a metal gun locker after Gandee pulled the trigger as he was showing the other officer how the safety features on the weapon worked. The bullet lodged inside a gun locker near the deputies, according to the reports. Neither deputy was injured, though both reported severe ringing in their ears, the reports said.
  2. SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 12/14/13: A teenage boy who was shot dead in San Francisco this month was slain not by an enemy but by an accomplice in a street robbery, after a bullet fired at the victim ricocheted off his face, police said Friday. Officials released the shocking details of the death of 16-year-old Clifton Chatman while announcing the arrest of one of the alleged thieves, who is also 16, on suspicion of murder and attempted robbery. Due to his age, the suspect was not identified. Police did not say whether they believed he was the shooter. The incident happened Dec. 14 near the Alemany public housing complex in Bernal Heights. Police said a group of suspects accosted a man at about 11 p.m., and that as they dug through the victim's possessions and took his phone, one of them pulled out a handgun. The victim did not resist and complied with all demands, police said, but the gunman still opened fire. The bullet, though, glanced off the victim's face and struck Chatman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The target of the robbery was hospitalized, but is expected to survive.
  3. KODIAK, AK, 12/19/13: While out driving, the two individuals began to consume alcohol. According to Spokeswoman Beth Ipsen, "The driver was operating the vehicle with one hand on the wheel and was handling the cocked and loaded firearm with the other hand, when it accidentally discharged, striking him in the knee." As a result of the firearm discharge, the passenger was also struck by shrapnel from the blast.
  4. BEREA, OH, 12/20/13: A man called police Dec. 20 at 8:35 a.m. to report an accidental shooting. The man said he accidentally shot himself in the left knee area while putting his gun away. The man said he had ejected a magazine and thought his Walther handgun was unloaded when it shot him. Berea Fire Department paramedics transported the man to a hospital for treatment.
  5. BODFISH, CA, 12/20/13: The Bodfish man found dead in his booby-trapped home last weekend died of an accidental shotgun wound to the torso, according to a coroner's report released Friday. Paul Edward Morningstar, 66, was found Sunday in his Bodfish home, which had been rigged with multiple explosive devices. Sheriff's officials say they attempted to check Morningstar on Friday, Dec. 20, when neighbors reported hearing a loud "boom." A robot was unable to detect a body inside Morningstar's home that night, but did find explosive devices. A bomb squad entered the residence the next day to disarm any explovsives and located the 66-year-old. Neighbors described Morningstar as an "old hippy," eccentric, quiet and friendly.
  6. EL PASO CO., CO, 12/21/13: The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is on the scene of an accidental shooting. The call for help came in around 2 p.m. Saturday. According to a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, a man was doing some recreational shooting off Mount Herman Road when he shot himself in the leg. The man was taken to the hospital, but the extent of his injuries is not immediately clear. According to the U.S. Forest Service, there is an area west of Monument off Mount Herman Road that is approved for recreation/target shooting.
  7. QUICK, WV, 12/21/13: A ten-year-old girl accidentally shot during target practice is now undergoing surgery. It happened about 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Pentacre Road near Quick, W.Va. Sheriff's deputies say the girl and a nine-year-old boy were target practicing with a shotgun near a creek when the shooting happened. The girl's arm and chest were injured. She was taken to CAMC General where she was taken into surgery. There's no word on her name or condition at this time. UPDATE: Her name was Payton Thomas. And she didn't make it.
  8. LASDON, SC, 12/21/13: A North Charleston firefighter was injured Saturday night in an incident that is being described as an accident involving a firearm, the department's spokeswoman said Sunday. The firefighter was off duty at the time, North Charleston Fire spokeswoman Bianca Bourbeau. She referred questions to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were called to a house on Cohen Circle about 7 p.m. Saturday, sheriff's office spokesman Dan Moon said. They found that a man was cleaning a gun and shot himself in the hand. The bullet went through his hand and hit his brother, a firefighter, in the leg. The bullet apparently severed an artery, causing extensive bleeding. The firefighter was taken to a hospital and remained in intensive care Sunday, Moon said. No further investigation is planned, he said.
  9. MORENO VALLEY, CA, 12/21/13: A man was killed Saturday, Dec. 21 in an apparent shooting accident near Moreno Valley, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Officers responded to a 911 call at Reche Canyon Road and Locust Avenue, in an unincorporated area of Riverside County. They found a man with a gunshot wound and transported him to a local hospital, where he died. The name of the man has not yet been released. Police say the man and another male friend were in the county area shooting rifles Saturday morning when one of the guns discharged and hit the victim. The friend called 911 to say the man had been shot.
  10. TRINITY, TX, 12/21/13: A trinity police officer is recovering in a Tyler hospital after a firearm discharged while on the way to a felony arrest Saturday night. According to Trinity Police Chief Steve Jones, Officer Travis Bryan was going to help serve a warrant at a home on N. Clegg Road. Jones said while on the way, the patrol unit made a quick turn, causing a shotgun in the vehicle to shift and discharge. "When the weapon discharged, the bullet grazed the foot of Officer Bryan," Jones said. "Officer Bryan had to have his pinky toe amputated when he arrived at the hospital." Jones said that at this time, the department is investigating the incident. "We are looking into three possibilities," Jones said. "We don't know if it was a mistake by the officer. We don't know if the weapon could have malfunctioned and discharged. Another possibility is that something could have got caught on the trigger when the gun shifted, causing the discharge."
  11. JEFFERSON CO., AL, 12/21/13: Roosevelt Parker Jr., 52, was fatally shot early Saturday at a business in the 1200 block of Center Point Parkway. His nephew, 28-year-old Marcus Jarell White, turned himself into the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and was charged with murder. Chief Deputy Randy Christian on Monday released more information about the deadly shooting and two stabbings that took place there. It was an adult birthday party being held at a business that had been rented out for the event. Two people crashed the party, and a fight broke out when they were asked to leave about 1:30 a.m. During the fight, the two party-crashers were stabbed, Christian said. They went back into the party again. Next, White came in through the back door aiming for the stabbed party-crashers. He fired at them, but instead killed his uncle, who was found in the front parking lot.
  12. SIOUX FALLS, SD, 12/21/13: A Sioux Falls man accused of accidentally firing a gunshot that narrowly missed two people in a neighboring apartment was arrested Saturday morning on gun charges. Anthony Steven Pier, 24, faces reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of firearm while intoxicated charges. Both are misdemeanors. The incident occurred after Pier was picked up from a bar by a friend and taken back to his apartment at 4004 S. Louise Avenue, police spokesman Sam Clemens said. Once at the apartment, the friend asked Pier if he could have his handgun for safe keeping to ensure there wouldn’t be any problems that night. The friend told police he asked for the gun because Pier had been feeling depressed and thought that he could have potentially been suicidal. Around 12:30 a.m., Pier, who was intoxicated at the time, attempted to clear the handgun before handing it over. As he was attempting to eject a round, Pier, who had his hand on the trigger, accidentally fired a round, Clemens said. “That round went through a neighboring apartment, narrowly missing the person in that apartment,” Clemens said. “The bullet then continued into another apartment, again, narrowly missed another person.” The bullet ended up coming to rest inside that third apartment, Clemens said. Police determined the shot was fired accidentally.
  13. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 12/22/13: An Oklahoma City man is injured after he accidentally shot himself Sunday afternoon. According to police, officers responded to the incident in the 1200 block of Northgate Terrace. Police say a man was showing his grandpa a gun. But he didn't know it was loaded and accidentally shot himself in the foot. The man has been transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
  14. MONTERREY CO., CA, 12/22/13: A Fresno woman was accidentally shot by a relative during a hunting outing in Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County Sheriff's deputies reported Monday. Officials said Zoua Lo Xiong was shot about 10 a.m. Sunday at Botchers Gap. Deputies said Xiong was not wearing brightly colored safety gear and "blended into the scenery." The shooter did not realize his relative had been shot until she cried out, deputies said. Xiong suffered entry wounds to the face, head, upper back and left arm, but was conscious and able to speak when she was taken to a local hospital, officials said. MORE: They're sisters-in-law.
  15. DERRY TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/22/13:  An 11-year-old girl was shot in her leg and foot on Sunday night while she was sitting on the floor of an upstairs bedroom in a Derry Township home. The bullet discharged when Thomas Eric Furin, 36, allegedly banged a rifle against the floor downstairs during an argument with his girlfriend, the child's mother, police said. The rifle went off and “the bullet traveled through the ceiling into an upstairs bedroom,” through the girl's right foot and left thigh as she sat cross-legged and then through the bedroom's ceiling and attic.
  16. CHARLOTTE, NC, 12/22/13: A Charlotte woman said she was afraid for her life and gunfire erupted outside her home. Bendetta Brown said the bullet sounded more like a bomb exploding through her house. Around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Brown, her daughter and elderly mother were all asleep when gunshots were fired behind her north Charlotte home. Brown said one of the bullets tore through her bedroom wall just inches away from her bed. "One, two, three and that fourth shot I heard something shatter I said oh my God sounds like they hit the window the house or something," said Brown.
  17. COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, 12/23/13: Colorado Springs police are now telling FOX21 News that the 14 year old girl shot this morning has died. According to police, the girls stepfather shot her, thinking it was a home invasion.  Police say she may have been sneaking back into her house. The incident happened about 5:57 Monday morning on the city's northeast side, near Peterson Road and North Carefree Circle. It was not clear how many shots were fired.
  18. LAWRENCEVILLE, GA, 12/23/13: Gwinnett County Police say a shooting Monday evening at a party in Lawrenceville was accidental. A male in his 20s showed up at Gwinnett Medical Center with a gunshot wound and the Gwinnett Police Department was called to investigate. “It looks like he was at a party and it was an accidental shooting and they hit him in the leg,” Sgt. Brian Doan said of the victim. “Everything is lining up from what the victim is saying that it was accidental.” The incident occurred at the Herrington Woods Apartments in Lawrenceville. Doan said the wound was non life-threatening.
  19. HELENA, MT, 12/23/13: A 14-year-old boy is in stable condition at St. Peter’s Hospital after a friend accidentally shot him while hunting rabbits near MacDonald Pass, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said Monday evening. Powell County 911 received a call around 1 p.m. Monday from a male reporting that his younger brother had been shot in the leg by a friend, and that the three were en route to the hospital in Helena, Dutton said. The incident occurred between the road at the top of MacDonald Pass and Cromwell Dixon Campground, near the Powell and Lewis and Clark county boundary. At the hospital, the injured boy told a Lewis and Clark County deputy that incident occurred when a 15-year-old female friend tripped while crossing a cattle guard, according to Dutton. Her rifle discharged, striking him in the right thigh, he said.
  20. FRANKLIN CO., KS, 12/23/13: A 14-year-old Pomona boy was not seriously injured when he shot himself in the foot Monday morning in a hunting mishap. The youth was hunting rabbits about 11:44 a.m. on his family’s property in rural Franklin County when he accidentally shot himself in the right foot with a small caliber rifle, according to a sheriff’s report.
  21. SEVEN SPRINGS, NC, 12/23/13: The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office says the accidental discharge of a gun has left one man dead and another charged. Deputies were dispatched to 855 Smith Grady Road, Seven Springs at 1:10 p.m. Monday in reference to a shooting incident. Deputies arrived on scene and found a male victim dead from a gunshot wound. The victim has been identified as 20-year-old Randall Thomas Lewis. Deputies say he died of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Sheriffs' detectives say the investigation and determined that Lewis and 19-year-old Michael Bradley Rouse were engaged in horseplay while Rouse held a semi-automatic handgun. Rouse reportedly pointed the handgun at the victim believing the gun had the safety engaged. The gun was then fired and a bullet struck Lewis.
  22. FRANKLIN, KY, 12/23/13: A 5-year-old girl was injured Monday after an accidental shooting in Simpson County, according to Simpson County Sheriff’s Detective Eddie Lawson. Deputies were called to The Medical Center at Franklin around 4 p.m. Monday, where a 5-year-old girl had pellet wounds on her cheek, chest and hands, Lawson said. The girl had been at a family friend’s home on 5969 Scottsville Road in Franklin with her father, brother and other adults and children. Everyone was in the garage, and the adults were working on ATVs. The kids were playing around a pool table. “Apparently, somebody had left a loaded shotgun on a pool table,” Lawson said. “We think maybe one of the children pulled the trigger of the shotgun, completely unintentional.” The pool table and the items on the table seemed to have absorbed most of the shotgun blast, Lawson said. The girl was the only person injured. “We are ruling it as an accidental shooting,” Lawson said. “There’s nothing to indicate there was any criminal intent.”
  23. HAMDEN, CT, 12/23/13: A 23-year-old man who shot himself in the leg on Monday initially told police that someone else did it, police said. Officers who responded to the corner of Concord and Garden streets about 9:30 p.m. for the reported shooting found Bobby McCrea suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. McCrea and his friends told the officers that an individual driving a specific vehicle was responsible for the shooting, police said. However an investigation determined that the wound was self-inflicted, according to police.
  24. SPANISH FORT, AL, 12/24/13: Police are investigating an apparent hunting accident that left one man with a gunshot wound to his leg in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, officials said. Around 12:05 p.m., the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department got a call from a cell phone reporting the shooting, said MFRD spokesman Steve Huffman. The caller, who has not been identified, said he and a friend were hunting on Upper Crabb Creek when one of them was accidentally shot. It's unclear whether the injured man or his friend made the call. The victim told authorities he and his friend had been hunting for hogs when his friend accidentally shot him. The Mobile Police Department and the Alabama Marine Police are performing a routine investigation of the incident, Huffman said.
  25. EAST LAMPETER TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/24/13: A 2-month-old baby girl is dead after police say she was accidentally killed when a gun was fired by a member of her family. Lancaster County District Attorney, Craig Stedman was at a loss for words when he spoke with us earlier this evening. Stedman says it’s absolutely devastating, but even worse is the timing. One day before Christmas. It happened here at 2165 Old Philadelphia Pike just before 2:30 Tuesday afternoon. “Obviously it’s an incredibly disturbing set of circumstances,” says Lancaster County District Attorney, Craig Stedman. Stedman says the one gunshot fired from a handgun was enough to kill a 2-month-old baby girl. “This is not random. It’s a family member who had possession of the gun. I’m not going to identify any names at this particular time because people are still being notified,” says Stedman.
  26. ROCKY POINT, OK, 12/24/13: A woman was taken to the hospital after she was shot at a home in Wagoner County. Sheriff's deputies were called about 1 p.m. Tuesday to a residence in the 31000 block of East 683 Road in Rocky Point, Maj. Gary Handley said. According to authorities, a woman was wounded when a gun accidentally discharged inside the residence. She was transported by medics to Wagoner Community Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Handley said. The unidentified victim was then later taken to a Tulsa hospital for additional treatment.
  27. COLUMBIA, MO, 12/24/13: A Columbia woman is recovering after being by struck by a bullet fired into a home on Christmas Eve. Police say several adults and children were in the house when the woman was wounded around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Several rounds were fired into the home, but only the 41-year-old woman was hit by a bullet that came through a wall. The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries that police said were not life-threatening. A tracking dog from the Boone County Sheriff's Department was brought to the scene but was unable to lead officers to a suspect.
  28. BROOKLYN, NY, 12/24/13: A drunken Brooklyn man playing with a gun shot his younger brother in the hip on Christmas Eve and then tried to dump the smoking pistol on a neighbor, officials said Thursday. “Take this,” boozed-up shooter Jose Miranda, 49, told his upstairs neighbor on Tuesday after shooting younger brother Gregorio Miranda-Cruz, 48, according to court papers. “I screwed up and made a mistake.” The two brothers had just returned to their apartment on Belvidere St. near Broadway in Bushwick around 11:30 p.m. following a night of drinking. Law enforcement sources said a soused Miranda pulled a Smith & Wesson 9-mm. handgun from his dresser as he looked for some clean clothes. Miranda told police he was aiming the gun at his bedroom wall when it went off, according to court papers. The bullet pierced Miranda-Cruz’s hip, nicked his bladder and lower intestine and exited his stomach. Authorities said Miranda immediately ran upstairs and tried to hand the gun to neighbor Jonathan Espinosa, 28. Espinosa wouldn’t take it, but Miranda left the loaded weapon on his neighbor’s stove before fleeing, officials said.
  29. DELTONA, FL, 12/25/13: A Deltona man was killed Wednesday morning after he was shot in the chest while in his backyard. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said around 10 a.m. deputies were called to a home in the 3200 block of Cadehill Drive. When they arrived they found the 69-year-old man, whose name has not been released, with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken by ambulance to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where he was pronounced dead. Investigators said they are working to determine whether he may have been struck by a stray bullet. The Sheriff’s Office said witnesses told them a neighbor built a shooting range with a raised berm and it’s possible that a stray bullet may have struck the victim. The man who may have fired the shot has been interviewed by deputies.
  30. FRANKLIN, TN, 12/25/13: A four-year-old was shot in the hand Christmas morning in Williamson County. Officials with the Franklin Police Department said the incident occurred at 11:47 a.m. Wednesday near Cherokee Place in Franklin. According to investigators, the four-year-old was shot in the hand and as a result, sustained non-life threatening injuries.
  31. FLINT, MI, 12/25/13: A 2-year-old boy was shot in the foot after a gun discharged on Christmas Day, according to a police report. The boy and his mother were at a residence in the 2500 block of Dakota around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 25. He was jumping on the couch when a gun discharged, striking him in the right foot, the report said. The boy was taken to the hospital where he was listed in good condition. The report does not say how the gun discharged or if there were any arrests.
  32. SPOKANE, WA, 12/25/13: A 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the lower leg Wednesday evening on East Jacobs Road north of Spokane Valley. Spokane County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an accidental shooting around 8:45 p.m. The boy and his grandfather were roughhousing together in the living room of a home on the 14000 block of East Jacobs Road when a handgun in a concealed holster on the grandfather’s belt went off, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The bullet went through the boy’s right calf. The injury wasn’t life-threatening, the Sheriff’s Office said, and the boy was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
  33. DALLAS, TX, 12/25/13: Carmelino Cardona, 29, has been charged with two counts of deadly contact after he discharged a gun inside his apartment. He remains in the Dallas County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. Cardona was fiddling with a pistol when he accidentally shot a bullet into two adjacent apartments at the Peterson Place Apartments in the 5400 block of Peterson Lane near Alpha Road, according to a police report. One of Cardona’s neighbors called police around 12:20 p.m. after a bullet came through his wall. The man thought it had come from next door, but responding officers discovered the bullet had gone through two apartments. Cardona told police he had been sitting at a table when his gun went off. The unloaded pistol was found on an upstairs dresser, police said. There were no reported injuries.
  34. TUNKHANNOCK TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/25/13: State police at Towanda reported a 24-year-old Tunkhannock man accidentally shot himself while preparing to clean a Springfield Armory XD 9 mm semi-automatic pistol around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. The gun discharged and the round struck the man in the left lower thumb, exited his wrist area and reentered his lower forearm before exiting again approximately three inches farther down the forearm, state police. No further details were available.
  35. LAKE CHARLES, LA, 12/26/13: A 20-year-old Lake Charles man is dead following a shooting Thursday morning. Authorities responded to an incident at a home near the corner of Louie and Ryan streets. An eyewitness told KPLC that the victim was working on his truck around 9 a.m. and started playing with his gun and accidentally shot himself. Deputy Coroner Zeb Johnson said there is no evidence of foul play, and they are investigating an accidental shooting.
  36. ERIE, PA, 12/26/13: A man was taken to UPMC Hamot for treatment after shooting himself in the leg this afternoon. Emergency responders were called to an apartment in the 1300 block of West Ninth Street shortly after noon on a report of a man who had shot himself. It appears the man shot himself while cleaning his gun, Erie police Capt. Aaron Wassell said.
  37. NASHVILLE, TN, 12/26/13: A 14-year-old was taken to the hospital after telling police he shot himself in the foot. He was taken to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital with minor injuries. The incident happened near the intersection of 14th Avenue North and Buchanan Street. Police say they were not able to find the gun, any casings or blood at the scene.
  38. YOUNGSTOWN, OH, 12/26/13: Police say two people were wounded in the fingers when a gun accidentally discharged about 2 p.m. today on the East Side. A spokesman said the people were on East High Avenue and were slightly injured. Charges are not expected, the spokesman said.
  39. BRIGHTON, MI, 12/26/13: Authorities say a man accidentally shot himself in a home improvement store with the gun he was legally carrying. WHMI-FM reports the 32-year-old man from the Livingston County community of Green Oak Township was shot in the buttocks Thursday evening at the Home Depot in Brighton. Police say it appears he was reaching for his wallet when he inadvertently grabbed the pistol and a shot fired. The man was treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital. Police say the man had a license to carry the concealed weapon and no charges will be filed.
  40. FORT WORTH, TX, 12/26/13: Police say a man in is custody accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old boy in what the man claims was a mistake. Fort Worth police said they received a call of a shooting just before midnight Friday in the 3000 block of Hanger Avenue. A 24-year-old man told police he pulled out a handgun, that he didn't know was loaded, and shot a 14-year-old boy just above the left eye. Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, both police and the boy's family confirmed that he has now died.
  41. SWIFTON, AR, 12/26/13: Law enforcement is investigating the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy. According to reports, the Jackson County Sheriff's responded to a 911 call around 7:15 Thursday night in reference to a shooting incident in Swifton. Officers arrived at the 500 block of Main Street where they found Isaac Odell Williams dead with an apparent gunshot wound to the face. Williams' body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, but at this time, the shooting appears to be accidental.
  42. RUSHSYLVANIA, OH, 12/26/13: Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office responded to Mary Rutan Hospital about 5:50 p.m. Thursday in reference to a patient who was receiving treatment for a gunshot wound. They spoke with medical staff and also the patient, Shane R. Kramer, 39, of 1354 E. County Road 113, Rushsylvania. Mr. Kramer said he had been drinking earlier in the day, and he had been cleaning a firearm at his residence. He said he was not very familiar with the firearm, and he thought it was completely unloaded. However, in the process of cleaning the gun, it discharged a round into his leg.
  43. AXTELL, NE, 12/26/13: A 17-year-old was transported to a hospital Thursday night following an accidental shooting near Axtell. According to the Nebraska State Patrol, five juveniles had driven out to an abandoned farmhouse north of Axtell Thursday night. The two females in the group and one of the males left to explore while the other two males stayed inside the pickup. After returning, the three found the doors locked to the pickup. Officials say the male outside the pickup was joking around when a 22-caliber handgun he was carrying accidentally discharged, hitting one of the teens inside the truck. The injured teen was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney with non-life-threatening injuries.
  44. SPOKANE, WA, 12/26/13: At Justin Werle's first court appearance Friday, police said they were seeking the 28-year-old for his alleged involvement in a shooting Thursday when he walked into Sunset Grocery. According to the affidavit, the initial call was from Werle’s brother, reporting he accidentally fired his weapon. Police said they saw the suspect in the grocery store and found a sawed off shotgun in his possession. They arrested Werle for attempted first-degree robbery and second-degree felon in possession of a firearm. Werle has nine previous felonies including riot with a deadly weapon and third degree assault according to officials.  Police said he was also arrested in April in Browne’s Addition for shooting a person in the head. That victim survived. Still, it is unclear whether he planned Thursday to rob the store. Sunset grocery was robbed twice during the ten days leading up to the incident. Werle’s mother said her son was not involved. She said he’s friends with a Sunset Grocery employee.
  45. COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, 12/27/13: Colorado Springs police arrested a man after he allegedly fired a gun into a neighboring apartment early Friday morning. According to police, Aleksey Kolyushin, 27, was taken into custody shortly before 2 a.m. on suspicion of illegal discharge and prohibited use of a firearm and reckless endangerment. Officers were called to the apartments at 4460 Burton Way when a man awoke to the sound of a gunshot. He called police and reported that he heard the loud blast and found a bullet hole in the bedroom wall near his bed, a report said. No body was injured and Kolyushin was taken to the El Paso County jail. UPDATE: Nygren says police told him his apartment neighbor was cleaning his gun when it went off.
  46. LEXINGTON, KY, 12/27/13: A 19-year old Lexington teen was cleaning a gun when it went off hitting him in the hip, Friday afternoon. A friend of the victim who was in the house at the time said the teen was cleaning his girlfriend's small handgun that she got for Christmas, and didn't know there was a bullet loaded in the chamber when he pulled back the slide, making the gun go off. Maggie Evans said the girlfriend was taking a nap in the bed next to the teen when the accident happened. "He got a gun cleaning kit this morning and was excited to open it up and clean it out," Evans said.
  47. WILKES-BARRE, PA, 12/27/13: Wilkes-Barre police are investigating a shooting at the Sherman Hills Apartments after two area residents showed up at a New Jersey hospital on Friday claiming they had been shot by accident. Lashawn Burgman, 31, of Wyoming, and Catherine Thomas, 23, of Sherman Hills’ Building 308, told police they drove more than 100 miles after getting accidentally shot because they were “afraid” and wanted to avoid a police investigation, according to a search warrant application filed in court Friday. But their plan fell apart after authorities at East Orange General Hospital contacted Newark, N.J., police, who in turn called Wilkes-Barre police, according to an affidavit filed in support of the warrant. The pair told investigators they had been accidentally shot in Thomas’ apartment, where she lives with a small child, police said. Thomas told police she was lying on top of Burgman when his gun went off, shooting her in the foot and him in the leg, the affidavit says. Both injuries required emergency surgery, police said. When Burgman was questioned, he told police he was pulling a .380-caliber handgun from his waistband when it accidentally fired, police said.
  48. SOUTH BEND, IN, 12/27/13: A South Bend teenager was shot in the foot Friday afternoon. Police were dispatched to a home in the 100 block of Gladstone Avenue around 3:05 p.m. The 17-year-old female was found inside with a gunshot wound to the right foot. According to paramedics, she is being treated at a local hospital for a serious foot injury. South Bend Police say the shooting is accidental. Investigators were able to recover the firearm involved in the incident.
  49. KERNERSVILLE, NC, 12/27/13: Kernersville Police say they are investigating after a gun discharged inside a restaurant Friday afternoon. Officers said they responded to Palenque Mexican Restaurant on North Main Street at 1:18 p.m. Video from the restaurant showed a man attempting to pay at the register when he dropped a handgun and it discharged. Police told WFMY News 2 the round from the gun struck the counter at the register, then a half wall before entering the ceiling. No one was injured during the incident.
  50. SAN ANTONIO, TX, 12/27/13: A man is in the hospital after being shot in leg last night - possibly by himself. Police responded to a call in the 1600 block of West Villaret Boulevard, where family members told them the man was shot at another location, news reports say. Police, however, found a weapon in the home and believe the man might have shot himself on accident.
  51. LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ, 12/27/13: A man, appearing to be in his early 20s, shot himself just above the ankle Friday evening in a possible accident on Pink Rock Road and was taken away with a potential limb threatening situation, a Lake Havasu Fire Department official said. Fire Department officials received the call of a man shooting his foot out in the desert off of Paso De Oro Drive at about 5:15 p.m. Arriving on the scene, Battalion Chief Mike Quijada said he learned that the man, who was possibly a soldier on leave, had a 12-gauge shotgun pointed down at his side and the gun went off striking just above the left ankle. The incident occurred while the man was about one-eighth of a mile from Paso De Oro Drive on Pink Rock Road in the desert, Quijada said. Another person heard the scream and the blast and helped treat the young man before help arrived, he said. MORE:Shane Roe, 20, shot himself with his shotgun on Friday while he and a girlfriend were target shooting on Pink Rock Road off of Paso De Oro Drive. According to Mohave County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Trish Carter, Roe was kneeling down in position to take another shot at a target with his 12-gauge shotgun. The gun, which was facing downward, accidentally went off and shot him just above the left ankle. Roe’s girlfriend, who was with him, was away at the time getting more ammo but called authorities when she discovered the accident.
  52. EGNAR, CO, 12/27/13: A 28-year-old Egnar man is dead following an apparent accidental shooting that occured while he was  hunting for coyotes late Friday night. According to San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters, Trenten Tyler Sutherland, 28, was shot and killed while hunting with two other friends on his property near Egnar. Masters said at about 11 p.m. Sutherland, and the two other men, were walking and looking for coyotes when a "mistake" occurred. He said there was "something" that was misidentified as a coyote and Sutherland was "accidentally shot and killed." "All indications are that this is tragic accidental shooting," Masters said.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO DAVID WALDMAN ON SUN DEC 29, 2013 AT 04:49 PM PST.

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