Two Gun Accidents Today Leave One Man Dead, and Two Soldiers Injured

Police are not releasing the name or age of a man who was accidentally shot in the chest and killed in Yankton, South Dakota. Cody Auch, 20, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter. Police determined that the shooting took place in the victim’s apartment, and court documents say that multiple friends were in the apartment drinking alcohol while Auch was “showing off” a black handgun. Auch allegedly told police that it was his gun that fired, but he couldn’t remember who was holding it at the time as he had been drinking. Police found a loaded Taurus 9mm handgun on a nightstand, and one spent shell casing in a bedroom.

And in Colorado Springs, Colorado, two soldiers were shot when one of them was taking apart a gun that unintentionally fired. They were sitting in the back seat of a car when a firearm that one of the soldiers was trying to dissemble discharged a single bullet that struck him in the hand and the other soldier in the leg. Both men were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police have not said if anyone will be charged.

Sources:

“Yankton Police Investigating Fatal Shooting,” dakotanewsnow.com (September 24, 2023).

Hunter Dunteman, “Yankton Man Charged After Victim Shot, Killed in Apartment,” siouxfallslive.com (September 26, 2023).

Paige Reynolds, “Fort Carson Soldier ‘Accidentally’ Shoots Himself and Another Soldier,” krdo.com (September 24, 2023).