Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Woman Killed, and Three Injured in Unintentional Shootings In Memphis, Tennessee, a woman was shot in a vehicle and died. Police say a man and a child were also in the car, and that the child accidentally shot the woman. The woman was a local schoolteacher. The school issued a statement saying they are “deeply …
One Person Dead, Two Wounded, in Gun Accidents Today According to witnesses inside a home in St. Louis, Missouri, 15-year-old Dalton Escobar-Piatcheck was trying to load a gun when it unintentionally went off striking him in the head. He was seriously injured and died later at the hospital. In the restroom of a Brunswick, Georgia …
Two Hunters are Killed, and Two Boys are Wounded in Gun Accidents Seth Egelhoff, 26, was shot and killed while hunting waterfowl in Panora, Iowa. A member of Egelhoff’s hunting party accidentally shot him in the face. He died on the way to the hospital and authorities are investigating. Another hunting accident resulting in a …
Hunting Accidents Today: One Man Dies, and Heroic Boy is Injured In Seaboard, North Carolina, 34-year-old Chase Colas was shot and killed in a hunting accident. Few details are reported about the incident as the wildlife department continues to investigate. A friend set up a GoFundMe page and described Colas as “[g]enuinely one of the …
Man Shot and Killed While Hunting Coyotes While hunting coyotes in Hardin County, Iowa, 53-year-old Mark Arends was accidentally shot and killed. He was hunting with friends on private land and was shot around 8 p.m. Coyotes are nocturnal, so hunters often hunt them in the dark with night vision equipment. The friends were separated …
Six Gun Accidents Today A 3-year-old Trenton, New Jersey boy is in stable condition after shooting himself in the head with a gun brought into the home by 30-year-old Chante Odom. Two other children and an adult male were at home during the incident. Odom has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, …
Three Teens Unintentionally Injured in Shootings After a 13-year-old St Petersburg, Florida boy reported that he had been shot while riding his bike, investigating police concluded that he had accidentally shot himself instead. The boy’s injuries are not considered life threatening and police are investigating where the boy got the gun. In Alexandria, Louisiana, an …
Police were called today when a Storm Lake, Iowa man accidentally shot himself inside an apartment. Police found that the man had shot himself in the hand and transported him to the hospital for treatment. No charges were filed. Source: “One Person Injured In Storm Lake Shooting Incident,” kicdam.com (September 27, 2022).
Savannah Holmes, an Ankeny, Iowa four-year old shot herself in the face with her father’s gun. She later died at the hospital. According to the police, Savannah’s father responded to people pounding on the door by getting a gun and leaving it on the couch while going to get his son. Savannah got out of …
Ashley Cronan of Waterloo, Iowa was accidentally shot in the leg in an incident that, according to police, involved a convicted fellow behaving irresponsibly with a gun. Roy Stewart was arrested after the incident and charged with illegal possession. Cronan was an innocent bystander. “Detectives investigating the shooting interviewed several witnesses confirming that Stewart sustained …
Larry Beeding, age 44, of Mediapolis, Iowa was charged with reckless use of a firearm and animal cruelty after shooting a round from his handgun at a dog inside a local home. The dog was killed. Another man was struck in the torso and Beeding was shot in the hand by the round that killed …
An Ankeny, Iowa man was arrested after accidentally shooting his roommate in the face. The man’s roommate has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. According to the report, the unidentified shooter was intoxicated and handling a .9mm pistol in a reckless manner when it went off. He was released on bond after being charged with reckless …
A Storm Lake, Iowa nine-year old was struck in the lower body by an accidentally fired handgun round today. Another child living in the home had found an unsecured gun and fired it. The child is expected to survive. Two children, an 11-month old in the Bronx, New York and a five-year old in Atlanta, …
Nathan Sharpnack, age 37, was accidentally killed while hunting in Marion County, Iowa. He and a large group of hunters were engaged in a deer drive when he was shot in the torso. There is an ongoing investigation and no other details are yet available. Also today, Jordan Griffey of Clark County, Missouri, accidentally shot …
In an illustration of how even an accidental shooting can lead to a vicious cycle of violence, four people in Des Moines, Iowa were injured when gunfire erupted at a vigil for an accidental shooting victim. The original accident occurred on March 6, 2021, when Thomas Ivy accidently shot and killed 16-year old Elijah Brown-Townsend …
At least eight teenagers were injured in eight separate shooting incidents in the United States today. In light of minimal reporting, the circumstances of most of the incidents remain murky. Teens were shot in Chicago and Decatur, Illinois. The other incidents occurred in Iowa, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Delaware. As reported, the incidents …
Details are sketchy about a gun accident that left a person dead in Waterloo, Iowa today. No information about the circumstances of the accident or the age or identity of the victim have been released. The report of the shooting has only the following odd details: “The accidental shooting happened just days after the home …
In Des Moines Iowa, a man who was cleaning his gun accidentally shot and injured a neighbor. The man’s injuries do not appear to be life threatening. Sources: “Police: Man Accidentally Shoots Neighbor While Cleaning His Gun,” weareiowa.com (April 24, 2021).
In an accident that appears to have been related to use of alcohol, a Cedar Falls, Iowa man was found on the street with a gunshot wound to his leg. Police applied a tourniquet until medical help arrived. Two other men were arrested at the scene of the accident, one on weapons charges and the …
One man accidentally shot himself and another shot a teenager while cleaning their guns today. Typically, such accidents can be prevented with load indicators, magazine safety disconnects, manual safeties or cleaning protocols that do not require a trigger pull. Remarkably many guns, including Glocks, require that the trigger be pulled for disassembly and cleaning, leading …
Thomas Ivy, age 18, of Des Moines, Iowa, accidentally shot and killed Elijah Brown-Townsend, age 15, while handing him a gun. The two were in a vehicle parked at a convenience store when the accident occurred. Ivy was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. Source: Amber Mohmand, “18-year-old Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in Death of …
After investigating, police determined that a man found shot on the street in South Sioux City, Iowa had accidentally shot himself. The man had been taken by two good Samaritans to a local hospital. He is not facing charges. Nor will the unidentified man pay, apparently, for the various police and health care resources triggered …
In Ottumwa, Iowa, Brian Rainey, an off-duty deputy sheriff for the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed in a gun accident. Authorities say he was shot in the torso. According to the Ottumwa police, the shooting was accidental. They have not said who fired the gun that killed Rainey. Other details of the …
The local sheriff’s office is investing the accidental shooting death of a male “juvenile” in Kalona, Iowa. The boy was found dead when police responded to a 911 call. No further information about the circumstances of the shooting have been released. Source: Mike Bunge, “Investigation Underway Into Deadly Kalona Shooting,” KIMT3 (June 20, 2020).
17-year old Ishmael Muhammad of Des Moines, Iowa was struck by a bullet in a local residence today when someone accidentally fired an illegal handgun. He later died of the wound. According to police, residents initially said that Muhammad had arrived at the home having already been shot. After an investigation, police charged a 16-year …
In Maquoketa, Iowa, a 20-year old man falsely claimed that he was shot in the abdomen by an unknown assailant outside his home. Upon investigation, police learned that he accidentally shot himself. The wounded man, Thomas A. Detro, “admitted in an interview that he walked outside with a revolver and fired multiple ‘warning’ shots into …
41-year old Brian McManemy of Blairstown, Iowa was shot in the leg when one of the guns in the vehicle in which he was riding discharged. He was transported to a Cedar Rapids hospital. Mr. McManemy was coyote hunting at the time of the accident. He was a passenger in a vehicle driving through a …
The Associated Press reported that it had gathered reports of 1,422 unintentional gun discharges by police since 2012 at 258 different law enforcement agencies. It called its information gathering a “snapshot” of the problem because there are no reporting requirements for such incidents. The reports document all incidents in which a gun went off when …