A $5.5 million settlement was reached in connection with a gun accident that occurred at a Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania shooting range two years ago today.  The shooting occurred during a training exercise organized by a variety of organizations and individuals who were then named as defendants in the lawsuit.  The shooter, who was supposed to be using dummy ammunition, accidentally fired a live round from his Glock. The bullet passed through Darrin McMahon’s neck and lodged in his spinal cord. McMahon was paralyzed from the waist down. 

The suit claimed that the shooter, Cody Saylor, and his co-defendants were negligent for failing to follow standard safety procedures before the exercise. Defendants in the case included the Saylor as well as the Stroudsburg range and various organizations and individuals responsible for the simulation.  In light of a confidentiality agreement, there is no information available about which parties (or insurers) paid how much of the settlement amount.

 The training exercise was supposed to be a “reality-based” firearms exercise.  Saylor “played the aggressor” and McMahon was his intended target.  Saylor did not realize he was carrying his loaded Glock rather than a simulation gun that he was supposed to us.

Source:

Hannah Phillips, “Man Paralyzed in Accidental Shooting in the Poconos Reaches $5.5 Million Settlement,” Pocono Record (September 14, 2021).