Eric Rosenbrock, a seventh grade science teacher in Lake George, New York, was sentenced to five-years probation for accidentally shooting and killing his wife, Ashley.  Mr. Rosenbrock was oiling a loaded 9-mm pistol to prepare for a hunting trip when it went off.  He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide after a plea bargain. 

Ashley Rosenbrock, who died after being struck in the torso, was the mother of three children, aged 2, 5, and 10. The Rosenbrocks were high school sweethearts who had a reputation in the community for practicing “random acts of kindness.” 

 In a statement made in Court at the time of his guilty plea, Rosenbrock said he was oiling his gun inside his home. When he reassembled it and put the magazine into his pistol, Rosenbrock says he did not check to see if there were bullets in the magazine. He told the Judge:

After the magazine was in the pistol, I turned and I racked the slide, and when doing so, the pistol went off and discharged and the bullet struck my wife sitting on the couch, resulting in her death.

It is unclear from news reports whether the gun had safety features such as a loaded chamber indicator (which might have made Mr. Rosenbrock aware of a round in the chamber) or a manual safety (which may have prevented the gun from firing).  Many common pistols do not have such features.  Notably, Mr. Rosenbrock also does not acknowledge knowingly pulling the trigger of the gun.

Sources:

Tamar Lapin, “Upstate Man Who Shot Wife Dead While Cleaning Gun Avoids Jail Time” New York Post (November 19, 2019).

Camille Delongis, “Man Accused of Shooting Wife While Cleaning Gun Pleads Guilty,” Spectrum News (September 23, 2019).