Eight of 34 guns discovered by TSA agents at airports around the country last week.
Just your basic, routine, 40+ GunFAIL events week. Though once again, the hunting season is responsible for about a quarter of those listed. I count 11 clear hunting accidents this past week, two more that came in as late reports from prior weeks, plus one more that isn't as clearly labeled a hunting accident, but was being investigated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, ordinarily a pretty clear indication that it's hunting-related. That brings the total for this installment of GunFAIL to 14.
If we make a similar assumption, we find a total of four accidents occurring while someone was cleaning a still-loaded gun. There are three clear examples, plus one more that happened while the owner was "breaking down" his gun, usually a prelude to cleaning. Though again, it must be admitted that unloading a gun is usually a prelude to breaking it down, so clearly not everything is working as it should be, and maybe I assume too much.
Five "home invasion" shootings are among the entries this week, plus one that fell from the owner's pocket and shot his wife, one that shot its brand new owner immediately following its purchase, and one used to shoot yet another suspected "intruder" who turned out to be the gun owner's caretaker who'd come to check on him.
Continuing the Christmas shopping season's hottest trend, another gun carrier has accidentally discharged his weapon while out at the stores, this time shooting himself in the parking lot outside a Lowe's home improvement store in Pocatello, ID.
The child victims of GunFAIL were mercifully few last week. Just five were found, ages 5, 15, 15, 16 and 17. Many of you have, no doubt, by now become aware of the story of the 3-year-old killed in Indianapolis on Saturday. That particular tragedy does not go unrecognized, but it won't be included until our next installment.
In our continuing count of guns found in schools, I found stories last week from: Toledo, OH; Durham, NC; Camden, SC; Winter Garden, FL (where at least one Daily Kos reader I know of has a child in attendance); Omaha, NE, and; San Francisco, CA.
On a slightly more positive note, I thought you might find it interesting to know that our military, which has some considerable experience with firearms and which generally frowns on members carrying arms in the routine course of business on base, has taken on one more precaution for its members: private gun ownership mentoring. Why? "The idea for this was to put together some form of mentorship in terms of privately owned weapons due to the numbers in trends that the Army is seeing with soldiers injuring themselves with weapons they purchased," said a spokesman. Glad to see the Army keeping an eye on reality, and being willing to address a real world problem, rather than relying on some kind of Invisible Hand of Freedom to do it for them.
Without further ado, this week's installment, below the fold.
- MCKENZIE CO., ND, 11/14/13: Kaelan Macdonald and his family spent the past three weeks, including Thanksgiving, in a St. Paul, MN, hospital after he was shot in the eye while pheasant hunting. Russell Macdonald said he and he his son were deer hunting with two others Nov. 14 on their family farm in McKenzie County, about 20 miles southeast of Bismarck. He said the deer hunting was slow that Sunday so the group decided to walk a slough where they had seen some pheasants earlier in the day. When they reached the slough, Kaelan and one of his friends walked the edge to the other side and Macdonald and a family friend went through the middle. When a rooster flushed, the friend fired with Kaelan 80 yards directly down range. Russell Macdonald said it was then the magnitude of his son’s situation hit hard for him and his wife. “I have never felt fear like that before,” he said. Admittedly, Russell Macdonald said they didn’t follow safe hunting rules — and it cost his son dearly. He said one of the biggest things is thinking something like this couldn’t happen to them. He said he plans on sharing his story with others when it comes to proper hunting safety and how, in an instant, things can go wrong.
- FORTY FORT, PA, 11/21/13: Forty Fort police took out a search warrant on a man who accidentally shot himself in the face—but allegedly wasn't supposed to possess a gun. Martin Dartoe, 24, of Center Street, is prohibited from owning a firearm because he has an active protection from abuse order out on him, police said. According to the warrant application, Forty Fort Officer Adam Michaels was sent to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center on Nov. 22 on a report of a man who had come in seeking treatment for injuries to his right and left cheeks. The man, identified as Dartoe, first told hospital staff that he didn't know how he got the injuries. He later told staff the injuries were from a knife, but then changed his story again and said they were from the accidental discharge of a firearm, possibly a .38 caliber revolver. Dartoe said a friend, whom he didn't identify, owned a .38 caliber revolver, but he didn't recall how he sustained the gunshot injury, and said he was done speaking with police about the incident because it was an accident. At Dartoe's apartment, a man identified only by the name Taylor invited police in and told them that on Nov. 21, he, Dartoe and two other men he didn't know were in the apartment. Taylor said Dartoe brought out a gun and handed it to one of the men. The man unloaded the gun and handed it back to Dartoe. Dartoe then put the gun on the right side of his face, and the gun discharged. Taylor said Dartoe then put the gun in a lockbox and began to clean himself up.
- NASHUA, NH, 11/23/13: A New York man was charged Tuesday with reckless conduct as a result of a shooting Nov. 23 involving a handgun police say he accidentally fired into his hand, with the same bullet injuring an adult female. Justin Morales, 29, of 18 Vermont View Drive, Apt. 12, Watervliet, N.Y., was arrested by Nashua police and charged with reckless conduct, a class B felony. Police say on Nov. 23 at around 10:30 p.m., Morales fired the shot inside an apartment at 39 Congress St. When police arrived, they found Morales and a woman they did not identify both shot by the same bullet. Morales told police at the time he was breaking down the handgun while it was still loaded. Police said the weapon was fired and a bullet went through his hand and then into the upper leg of the woman, who police said lived at the apartment.
- CHICKASHA, OK, 11/29/13: A Chickasha man accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun Nov. 29, according to local police. Chickasha Police Officer Joel Hendrix said he met with Jordan Seibold in the 800 block of 12th Street at 2:42 a.m. in reference to a gunshot victim. Seibold said her boyfriend was in the bedroom and had accidentally shot himself. Hendrix said he entered the residence where he found Samuel Bingaman in bed holding a towel on his head. "Bingaman said he was playing with his 22 caliber revolver and accidentally shot himself in the head," said Hendrix. "I noticed the revolver lying on the floor next to the bed, underneath a night stand. Seibold said Bingaman told her he had unloaded the gun. "Bingaman began to spin the gun on his finger, playing around when the gun fired," said Hendrix. "The bullet entered the top right of his head bouncing off the skull and exiting from the top of his head."
- CHEROKEE CO., OK, 11/29/13: A $1,000 reward is being offered for information about the person who shot a hunter in the arm last week in Cherokee County. John Mason, 27, of Wagoner was in the Welling area with his father, and the two were leaving the woods about 6:20 p.m. Friday. “Apparently, his dad heard the shot and heard (Mason) say something,” said Jason Chennault, Cherokee County undersheriff. “That’s how he knew he’d been shot.” We had a description of a vehicle that was seen in the area,” Chennault said. “We haven’t found the vehicle. They may have witnessed something. We can’t say what they might have seen.” The vehicle is described as a red four-door Dodge pickup. Mason’s condition was unavailable Monday. He had gone to W.W. Hastings in Tahlequah and was then flown to a hospital in Tulsa, Chennault said. “His arm was pretty mangled up,” he said. “Deputies said it would take several surgeries to correct it.” Meek said Cherokee County hasn’t had a hunting accident reported in the last four years. “This has been an unfortunate year for Cherokee County,” he said. “Our guys are working three accidents right now. Last year in all of Oklahoma there were only six accidents. Two were fatal.
- GABRIELS, NY, 11/29/13: An accidentally discharged gun left a man wounded and led to two arrests. Ray Brook-based state police said they responded to a report of an accidental discharge of a firearm on Nov. 29 at a residence on Franklin County Route 60 in Gabriels. Upon arrival, police discovered Jonathan D. Michael, 32, had suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg. Audra L. Muncil, 33, and Michael, who live together at the residence, told police that the discharge occurred accidentally while Michael was cleaning his .22-caliber Marlin rifle. Police said further investigation revealed that Muncil and Michael were fighting while Michael was holding the rifle, and it discharged into the back of Michael's leg when Muncil attempted to take it from him.
- MANCHESTER, NH, 11/30/13: A 5-year-old suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound early Saturday morning in Manchester, police said. The child was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the Elliot Hospital after the shooting was reported at 2:30 a.m. at 420 Spruce St., police said. The mother and her boyfriend told officers the child was playing with a handgun, which belongs to the boyfriend, Sonday Bishop, 28, police said. Manchester police seized the .22-caliber handgun.
- POCATELLO, ID, 11/30/13: A man accidentally shot himself with a handgun in a vehicle outside the Lowe's home improvement store here on Saturday. The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. when the man returned to his vehicle in the Lowe's parking lot after shopping at Lowe's and was placing his handgun into a holster. Somehow the gun went off, shooting the man.
- MONROE, LA, 11/30/13: A man is recovering in the hospital after accidentally shooting himself in the leg Saturday morning. An elderly man was in his carport on East Rimes Street when a handgun fell out of his jacket pocket and hit the ground. The gun discharged, shooting him in his right thigh/groin area. When Monroe Police were called to the scene around 9:30 a.m., the man was alert and with his family.
- WEST GARDINER, ME, 11/30/13: A hunting accident Saturday morning sent a Neck Road man to the hospital after he apparently slipped and shot himself in the foot. District Game Warden Steve Allarie said Zachary Woods, 31, was injured. “He was apparently beginning to start his hunt behind his residence and heard what he thought could be a deer,” Allarie said. He said Woods flipped off the safety and the firearm went off when he slipped on some rocks, striking himself in the right foot.
- KEARNS, UT, 11/30/13: A teenager shot in Kearns during a home invasion robbery Saturday was reportedly staged, police said early Sunday morning. While processing the scene Saturday, evidence was not consistent with the story told from the victim, the release stated. Detectives interviewed the boy again and he reportedly admitted the wound was self-inflicted. Unified Police received a 911 call on a report of a home invasion robbery and shooting from 5292 S. Leprechaun Lane Satuday. The 17-year-old victim told dispatchers two suspects entered his home and pointed a gun at him. The call was disconnected – when the victim called back a few minutes later he claimed he had exchanged gunfire with the suspects and was shot, according to a press release from Unified Police.
- DUVALL, WA, 11/30/13: A King County sheriff's spokesman says a deputy conducting a trailhead check discovered a man dead with a gunshot wound to the chest. Deputy Charlie Akers says the deputy found the man next to his vehicle Saturday night at about 9:20 p.m. near Duvall, about 25 miles northeast of Seattle. Akers said in a statement it appears the man accidentally shot himself as he was putting away his gear after a day of hunting.
- WICHITA, KS, 11/30/13: The sister was slightly wounded by shotgun pellets. No charges will be filed, said Wichita police Lt. Doug Nolte. The shooting took place in the 1900 block of Pinebay, Nolte said. The man was showing the shotgun to his sister at about 8:20 p.m Saturday when the gun went off. The pellets hit the carpeted, concrete basement floor, and some of them struck the girl, Nolte said.
- MILTON, FL, 11/30/13: A Florida Panhandle man is dead after a deer hunting accident. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Stan Kirkland says 30-year-old Christopher Garrett was hunting on land owned by his family when he was shot on Saturday afternoon. Investigators say Garrett had been hunting in deer stands with Johnny Farmer when both left their stands around dusk. The Pensacola News Journal reports Farmer saw motion in the woods and fired his shotgun, striking Garrett. Kirkland says neither man was wearing hunter orange, but deer hunters aren't required to wear orange on private land.
- DE SOTO, MO, 12/01/13: A 32-year-old man now faces charges after police say he allegedly misfired a handgun while drunk and shot a woman in De Soto. On Sunday, December 1, officers with the De Soto Police Department responded to an apartment in the 1200 block of Sycamore Hills Drive in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers spoke with a 32-year-old male who told them there was a woman in the apartment who had been shot. Officers discovered the victim, a 21-year-old female, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck.
- NEWARK, NJ, 12/01/13: The shooting of a 15-year-old Elizabeth boy in Newark on Sunday night was ruled accidental, police officials said. The victim, who was not identified, was shot in the mouth on Fairview Avenue around 7 p.m. on Sunday after his friend accidentally fired a gun in his direction, according to Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio. The group of teens were apparently playing with the weapon in a bedroom when the 15-year-old was shot in the face, DeMaio said.
- MOSES LAKE, WA, 12/01/13: A woman was accidentally shot in the chest with a 9 mm pistol on Sunday when a family member discharged a pistol while cleaning it. Terry Cafferty, a 69-year-old Moses Lake man, was cleaning the weapon in the dining room, when he reportedly forgot to remove the loaded magazine and pulled the trigger. The shot went through his forearm, into the living room and struck his daughter-in-law Miriam Cafferty, a 25-year-old woman, in the chest, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Both people were taken from the home in the 1,400 block of West Craig Street in the Larson area, near Moses Lake, to Samaritan hospital. Miriam Cafferty was later transferred to Central Washington Hospital. Terry Cafferty was not arrested and charges are not anticipated at this time.
- SHEPHERD, TX, 12/01/13: A 30-year-old Shepherd man is dead, the victim of an apparent accidental shooting, according to Chief Deputy James Fitch with the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office. The incident that led to the death of David Atkinson took place at his home on the 100 block of Bob McGowen Road in Shepherd. Atkinson and two other people were cleaning their weapons when one of the guns discharged, striking Atkinson in the neck. He died at the scene. Atkinson was not handling the Glock handgun that killed him. The person who was handling that weapon may be facing criminal charges at the conclusion of the investigation by the sheriff’s office. “This was a Glock handgun. The magazine was removed but there was a round in the chamber and they didn’t realize it,” said Fitch. “Glock is one of the few guns that will fire without a clip in it. The best thing is to treat every gun as if it’s loaded.”
- RIVERTON, WY, 12/01/13: A 21-year-old Riverton man was airlifted to Casper after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while duck hunting Sunday morning along the Wind River east of Riverton. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says it appears the man lost his footing while walking down an embankment towards the river and dropped his 20-gauge shotgun causing it to go off striking the victim’s right femur.
- BOCA RATON, FL, 12/01/13: By all accounts, Justin Holt and Erin Steele were very much in love. They started dating almost immediately after being introduced and were open about saying "I love you" to each other. After almost a year together, the young Pompano Beach couple had become nearly inseparable. On Thanksgiving, Steele and Holt ate dinner at his grandpa's house. Three days later, she shot and killed him. The 911 call about the shooting came just before 11 p.m. Sunday, police said. Officers hurried to the Gables Town Place apartment complex off Military Trail, where they found Holt, Steele and two of their friends. Holt, 22, had been shot in the chest and was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he died soon after. The four people at the apartment told investigators the same story, police said. Madison Flint, who lives there, invited friends over to hang out. One of them, Joshua Henry, brought a pistol and showed it off to the group, police said. They passed it around and practiced firing it without the bullets inside. Then, Henry reloaded the pistol and set it on the counter, police said. Later in the night, Steele picked it up, pointed it at Holt and pulled the trigger, police said. It fired, hitting him in the chest.
- LINN CO., IA, 12/01/13: An eastern Iowa man was shot and injured during a weekend hunting trip in Linn County. Eric Harms, 37, of Marion was hit in the leg by shotgun pellets while pheasant hunting Sunday afternoon, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Harms was hunting with Adam Bigley, 29, of Cedar Rapids, at the Wakpicada Nautral Area south of Central City. A group of birds came between them, and both hunters fired when the birds were at or near the ground. Two pellets fired from Bigley's gun penetrated Harms' leg.
- CHEVERLY, MD, 12/01/13: A gun was fired on an Orange Line train early Sunday during an argument between two men. A Metro spokesperson said that two men who knew each other were involved in a dispute on a train bound for New Carrollton around 2 a.m. today. "During the incident, one male was struck in the head with a gun by the other male," the spokesperson said. "The contact of the gun with the victim's head caused it to discharge one round, breaking a window on the train." No other passengers on the train were injured. The suspect was arrested at the Cheverly station by a Metro Transit Police officer, and the victim was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening laceration.
- COSHOCTON CO., OH, 12/02/13: A 63-year-old man died today after he apparently accidentally shot himself during the first day of deer gun season, the Coshocton County Sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office was called at 10:27 a.m. to the 28000 block of Rt. 341, on a report of a hunter found dead in a tree stand. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
- PANAMA CITY, FL, 12/02/13: The Bay County Sheriff's Office is working a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of December 2, 2013, and is asking for the public's help to locate two men believed in the home at the time of the shooting. At about 3:30 AM Monday morning, the BCSO responded to a 911 call from the mother of the victim stating her daughter had been shot. Deputies arrived with EMS at the home located at 1416 W. 29th Court, Panama City, and found a victim shot once in the abdomen. BCSO Investigators responded to the scene and spoke with the victim's mother and Blake Youngblood, both of which were in the home with the victim at the time of the shooting. Investigators believe Youngblood and the victim were with two other men in the victim's bedroom playing video games. The three men decided to leave when Youngblood took out his handgun, took the magazine out and accidentally pulled the trigger. The victim was shot once in the abdomen.
- MORGAN TOWNSHIP, OH, 12/02/13: In Gallia County, OH, the sheriff's department is looking into what lead to the death of one hunter early Monday morning. According to Sheriff Joe Browning, dispatchers received a call before 9:00 a.m. that a hunter had been found injured in a tree stand. When deputies arrived on scene, Browning said they found Larry Bradley dead of an apparent gunshot wound. Bradley was hunting one mile into the woods off Thaxton Road in Morgan Township, about 30 minutes outside Gallipolis, Ohio. Browning said he was hunting on private property at the time. According to investigators, family members say Bradley left the house to go hunting early Monday morning. They later received a call from him that he was injured.
- NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL, 12/02/13: In an apparent accident, a North Miami Beach man shot and killed another man while watching the New Orleans Saints play the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. Brandon Kyle Lapeikis and Christian Salazar, two 19-year-olds who had drifted apart since high school but had recently started hanging out again, were watching the game inside a bedroom at Lapeikis’ North Miami Beach home in the company of two other friends. All four were smoking marijuana. According to the friends, Lapeikis left the room and returned shortly with a gun. He racked the firearm, pointed it at Salazar’s head, said “Game over” and pulled the trigger. Salazar was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in extremely grave condition. He died at 10:05 Tuesday morning. Lapeikis later told authorities he did not know the gun was loaded and admitted to pulling the trigger. Police charged him with second-degree murder. The investigation is ongoing.
- RACINE, WI, 12/02/13: Two suspects accused in an armed robbery and shooting that occurred on Monday night, December 2nd in Racine have now been charged in the case. The suspects are identified as 16-year-old Damario Redmond of Racine, and 21-year-old Maurice Smith of Waterford. A criminal complaint against Redmond indicates police were dispatched to Sixteenth Street Foods in Racine for a shooting just after 3:00 p.m. on Monday, December 2nd. Officers made contact with the store’s owner, who reported the store had been robbed by two black males wearing hooded sweatshirts, masks and black gloves. The complaint indicates Redmond was armed with a handgun. The suspects were arrested in this case when police received information that a party with a possible gunshot wound to the leg was outside of Twins Food Mart on 16th Street. The criminal complaint says Redmond shot himself in the leg trying to put his gun back into his pants.
- HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC, 12/02/13: A Hilton Head Island man shot his gun inside his apartment Monday, leaving holes in the apartment beneath him, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report. A 26-year-old resident of Delander Court was carrying his gun out of his bedroom sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. when he accidentally fired it into his floor, he told deputies. The 31-year-old woman who lives below him returned home from an overnight shift at work Tuesday morning to find one of her light-switch plates destroyed and holes in her ceiling, wall and floor. The man apologized and offered to pay for the $300 in damages, the report said.
- SAVANNAH, GA, 12/02/13: Police in Savannah say a man accused of lying to authorities after accidentally shooting himself has been charged with providing false information to police, obstruction and other offenses. Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police spokesman Julian Miller says 21-year-old Deaussey Ladarius Mungin accidentally shot himself in the finger Monday and told police he was wounded when someone fired at him from a passing vehicle. Miller says police didn't find the crime scene, thought the wound was self-inflicted and asked him to submit to a gun residue test. Mungin instead checked himself out of the hospital and ran. Miller says ammunition fell out of his sweater and police also found marijuana when he was arrested.
- OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, PA, 12/02/13: In western Pennsylvania's Venango County, officials said a hunter was shot in the leg and had to be transported to a hospital, state Emergency Management Agency spokesman Cory Angell said.
- OWENSBORO, KY, 12/03/13: An Owensboro man was flown to University of Louisville Hospital Tuesday morning after accidentally shooting himself at his home on Kentucky 1389. Capt. Bill Thompson of the Daviess County Sheriff's Department said the man, later identified as Danny R. Word Jr., 38, was retrieving a rifle from his vehicle at about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday when the rifle discharged. Thompson said Word was shot in the upper leg.
- YPSILANTI, MI, 12/03/13: Waterford Township native Tammy Flowers was woken around 1:40 this morning to her roommate banging on her door and crying. “When I opened the door, she was sitting on the floor, looked up at me and said, ‘I got shot,’” said Flowers. A bullet had just gone through the wall of their apartment and her roommate, Farmington Hills native Destinee Leapheart, 20, was hit in the upper left arm. Police are looking for the suspect in the shooting. The two are students at Eastern Michigan University and live at Peninsular Place Apartments on Huron River Drive in Ypsilanti. The shot was apparently fired into the air from outside. The unit is in the back of the complex facing the river, and police believe the shots came from across the river. The bullet penetrated the wall right above Leapheart’s bed.
- LYONS, OH, 12/03/13: A 21-year-old Oregon man died of an apparent gunshot wound today in a hunting incident in Fulton County's Royalton Township, authorities said. The man's name was not released. Fulton County Sheriff Roy Miller in a statement said that a 911 call at 1:52 p.m. reported the incident near State Rt. 109 and County Road N. The hunter was pronounced dead at the scene.
- FEDERAL WAY, WA, 12/03/13: A 19-year-old who allegedly purchased a stolen handgun accidentally shot himself in the abdomen following the transaction in Federal Way on Tuesday night. Federal Way Police officers responded to the call at approximately 10:01 p.m. at 30823 18th Ave. South. Dispatch advised police that the “victim” showed up at his friend’s apartment with an apparent gunshot wound to the abdomen. Upon arrival, the victim stated that he was at an unknown ARCO station and was shot by a black male and a Samoan male. Medics transported the male to Harborview. Further investigation revealed that the 19-year-old met with a Samoan male to purchase a handgun. Following the completed transaction, the victim accidentally shot himself in the abdomen. His injury is considered non-life-threatening.
- CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, 12/03/13: Police plan to question a 16-year-old boy being blamed for shooting his girlfriend last night. A family member claims he accidentally shot 15-year-old Mercedes Reyna last night at her home on Huisache Street. They tell us the couple have a 1-year-old child. The teen underwent surgery for a gunshot wound and remains in the hospital.
- COLUMBUS, GA, 12/03/13: Wayman McMillian, a suspected member of a Columbus burglary ring, escaped police after allegedly crashing a stolen Nissan Maxima near North Lumpkin Road. He left behind five alleged cohorts — Laquinton Robinson, Ricky Henderson, Jacobee Matthews, Demon Moore and Emmanuel Williams — accused of burglarizing more than two dozen east and north Columbus homes, detectives said. But eluding police fugitive search squads was cut short after McMillian accidentally shot himself in both legs, detectives say. Wayman McMillian, a suspected member of a Columbus burglary ring, escaped police after allegedly crashing a stolen Nissan Maxima near North Lumpkin Road. He left behind five alleged cohorts — Laquinton Robinson, Ricky Henderson, Jacobee Matthews, Demon Moore and Emmanuel Williams — accused of burglarizing more than two dozen east and north Columbus homes, detectives said. But eluding police fugitive search squads was cut short after McMillian accidentally shot himself in both legs, detectives say.
- SENECA CO., OH, 12/03/13: A hunter suffered a gunshot wound and was treated at a hospital Tuesday afternoon after a hunting accident in Seneca County. According to reports from the Seneca County Sheriff's Office, a caller from Mercy Willard Hospital reported just after 6 p.m. the hospital was treating a person who was shot during a hunting accident in Seneca County. The report indicates the accident occurred in the area of East TR 106 and South TR 197. Seneca County Sheriff Bill Eckelberry said one hunter was shooting at a coyote between themselves and another hunter when they accidentally shot the second hunter.
- KOKOMO, IN, 12/03/13: Whatever prompted a possibly intoxicated man to pull a gun inside Cirilla's novelty store [Ed. note: apparently a "sex shop," according to the item headline] Tuesday backfired. Police said the suspect verbally threatened someone in the store before showing a gun, prompting a short altercation around 4 p.m. The man, who police didn't immediately identify, was led away from the store in handcuffs, one eye swelling shut and blood partially obscuring his face after the incident. Kokomo Police Maj. Brian Seldon said it wasn't a robbery, but said the suspect had made a threat to a store clerk, sparking the melee. "Witnesses in the store started wrestling with the suspect, and were able to take the handgun away from him. The gun went off, but didn't hit anyone," Seldon said, adding it appeared the man had been drinking. Officers at the scene breathalyzed the suspect as he was receiving treatment for his injuries.
- STATEN ISLAND, NY, 12/03/13: A Staten Island man got a big shock after going to the hospital and learning he’d been shot. As CBS 2′s Scott Rapoport reported, Edgardo Oquendo, 33, was seriously injured in the accidental shooting. Police believe he was the victim of a stray bullet. Oquendo called his wife on Tuesday saying he fell in his Staten Island home and was bleeding from the head. He was taken to Richmond University Medical Center and given a CAT scan, which showed a bullet in his head. Police found a bullet hole in a wall of Oquendo’s home. CBS 2 cameras captured what appeared to be a bullet hole in his window. Sources say police used laser tracking to try to determine where the shot came from and believe Oquendo was an unintended casualty of a random shooting.
- WILKES-BARRE, PA, 12/04/13: A stray bullet almost hit a sleeping girl at a troubled housing complex in Wilkes-Barre. Police said a gun accidentally went off in an apartment in Sherman Hills on North Empire Court around 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Authorities said the bullet went through the floor of an upstairs apartment and hit the floor, just a few feet away from a girl sleeping in bed. Wilkes-Barre Police said the gunshot appears to be an accidental discharge, but officers are still investigating the circumstances.
- BRADENTON, FL, 12/04/13: Deputies say a man who was apparently spooked by noises in his house shot one of his caretakers. Manatee County Sheriff's officials say 48-year-old Charles Fletcher had just gone to sleep Wednesday night when the noise awakened him. When he saw someone enter his bedroom, he grabbed a gun he keeps next to his bed and fired. The shot hit Erik Kirby, who is one of several caretakers who look in on Fletcher.
- GEORGETOWN, KY, 12/04/13: A 20-year-old Georgetown woman accidentally shot herself Wednesday night, then told police she was shot during a robbery outside her North Hamilton Street home, police said. Samantha Willoughby has been cited on a charge of falsely reporting an incident, Georgetown police Detective Sgt. Jeff Greenfield said. Greenfield said city police responded to Georgetown Community Hospital to a robbery call about 10:36 p.m. Wednesday and spoke to the victim who told officers she had been shot during a robbery. She had been shot in the left abdomen. Meanwhile, city detectives found discrepancies in her story, he said. Evidence at the alleged crime scene indicated she was not shot where she claimed she was. The investigation indicated the shooting had occurred in the woman's car, Greenfield said. Upon her return to Georgetown, officers questioned her and she admitted shooting herself in the car while trying to familiarize herself with a .22-caliber pistol, he said.
- RICHLAND, WA, 12/04/13: Richland police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who allegedly fired more than 20 rounds from an assault rifle at three people in an SUV. Bullets tore through the hood and windshield of the Ford Explorer but no one was seriously hurt, said Richland Capt. Mike Cobb. “It’s hard to believe no one was hit,” he said. One bullet traveled about three-quarters of a mile and lodged in a wall inside an apartment on the 2500 block of Duportail Street, Cobb said. A woman was in the apartment but was not injured. The shooting was Wednesday night in a mobile home park on the 100 block of Bitterroot Drive. It apparently stemmed from an ongoing dispute over a “litany of different things,” including a stolen motorcycle and work on a building, Cobb said.
- GRAND RAPIDS, MI, 12/05/13: A man was taken to the hospital after he accidentally shot himself Thursday evening, according to police dispatch reports. The victim had been cleaning his gun when it went off, shooting him in the stomach. The extent of the man's injuries are unclear, but he was able to tell emergency dispatchers his address and that the light on his porch was on. Emergency crews responded around 7:45 p.m. to the residence in the 1000 block of Oaklawn Street NE.
- JASPER, IN, 12/05/13: A Martin County man apparently shot himself in the foot last week, prompting state conservation officials to issue a reminder about firearm safety. Edward Lee Seals Jr., 28, of Loogootee, suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right foot on Thursday, according to information released Sunday by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. A family member took Seals to Memorial Hospital in Jasper.
- TULSA, OK, 12/06/13: A 17-year-old was shot in the arm after a handgun tossed by another teen went off inside a residence Friday morning. The victim’s friend, a 16-year-old who thought the weapon was not functional, tossed the gun to the victim, and the gun fired when it struck the floor, they told Tulsa police. Officers responded to the scene in the 2800 block of East 44th Street around 10 a.m. The bullet grazed the teen’s side before penetrating his arm, Sgt. Dedlorn Sanders said.
- ANCHORAGE, AK, 12/06/13: Anchorage police have arrested 27-year-old Bonnie Degenstein after she called 911 Friday night to report that she had accidentally shot a man. Police say Degenstein called Anchorage Police Department dispatch at 10:16 p.m. Friday. She said she and an unidentified man had been drinking and "playing with a gun" at a residence near midtown and that she’d accidentally shot him. When police and medics got there they found a man who’d been fatally shot multiple times. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Degenstein has been charged with second-degree murder and is expected to make a court appearance Saturday afternoon.
- LORANGER, LA, 12/06/13: Police are investigating the death of a man who was shot on a hunting trip. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's office responded to the call of a fatal shooting around 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Joseph H. Stevens Jr., 33, was killed in what is believed to be an accidental shooting while on a hunting trip with Stacey M. Trapp, 37. According to Trapp, as the two walked back to their cars and came across a net-wire fence. As they walked along the fence searching for an easier way through Trapp squatted down to go under some bushes with his rifle slung over his shoulder when the weapon accidentally fired and fatally shot Stevens. Trapp then called 911 for help.