Gunshot victim undergoes ‘most extensive’ face transplant ever
Surgeons have detailed what they claim is the world’s most comprehensive face transplant — allowing a 37-year-old man to emerge from behind a mask 15 years after a gun accident almost killed him.
Richard Norris of Hillsville, Virginia, was shot in the face in 1997 and lost his nose, lips and most movement in his mouth. Since then, he has had multiple life-saving and reconstructive surgeries but none could repair him to the extent where he felt he could return to society. He wore a prosthetic nose and a mask even when entering hospital for the transplant.
(University of Maryland Medical Center/Reuters)
Surgeons have detailed what they claim is the world’s most comprehensive face transplant — allowing a 37-year-old man to emerge from behind a mask 15 years after a gun accident almost killed him.
Richard Norris of Hillsville, Virginia, was shot in the face in 1997 and lost his nose, lips and most movement in his mouth. Since then, he has had multiple life-saving and reconstructive surgeries but none could repair him to the extent where he felt he could return to society. He wore a prosthetic nose and a mask even when entering hospital for the transplant.
(University of Maryland Medical Center/Reuters)
***
Another unusually active week in the categories of home invasion shootings (five) cop-involved GunFAILs (four), and hunting accidents (five). And there were three accidental discharges in retail stores this week, though one was in a gun shop, so that's either a little less of a surprise (since lots of people bring guns to gun shops) or perhaps more (since they're supposed to know what they're doing), depending on how you look at it. But I'm pretty sure gunfire at a Target store and a GNC are mostly unexpected. The second of those two incidents deserves special mention this week, since it took place in the context of an impromptu Second Amendment rights discussion. I might be assuming too much, but I'm guessing the discussion included a bit about being a law-abiding citizen and Responsible Gun OwnerTM, which makes it all the more surprising that the story ends, after the accidental discharge, with the perpetrator exclaiming that he "could not go down for this," before fleeing the store.
Topping the charts in the hunting accident category this week was the story of the 14-year-old Vermonter out for Youth Hunting weekend, and bagged himself a neighbor's Shetland pony.
Aside from the late report of the September squirrel shooting in the Mountain City, TN Dollar General store, which doesn't count because it's so old, top CopFAILs for the week include the Wood County, WI sheriff's deputy who drove off having forgotten his AR-15 on the trunk of his squad car would perhaps have been the top CopFAIL this week, and the situation at Ball State University. A report of a man with a gun prompted a lockdown and search, and drew law enforcement personnel from the University, the city of Muncie, Delaware County sheriff's deputies, the Indiana State Police, homeland security, and local SWAT units. No gun or gunman was found, but while they were on site, one of the SWAT officers accidentally discharged his assault rifle into the street. So file that one under armed responders arguably making things worse.
The child victims of GunFAIL this week were ages 6, 10, 13, 14, 14, 16, and one juvenile of unreported age. On the bright-ish side, I only found two reports of firearms found in schools in the past week, in Memphis, TN and Barstow, CA.
Below the fold, this week's complete list.
MOUNTAIN CITY, TN, 9/27/13: Jody Putnam, now a former Mountain City Police Officer, was on duty when Dollar General needed help with a squirrel in their building. According to police department records, Putnam fired his gun inside the store. "Shooting back there, of course that should not have been, that should not have happened," said property owner Carl Duffield. But that didn't work, so he tried another weapon. Duffield said, "then they began to spray it with mace and pepper spray." And the mace affected more than just the squirrel. "There was a lot of people that come out and just like me they came out and they were coughing and a hacking it was comical," said Duffield, "but I'm sure they didn't feel that way, the customers that came out." Neither did the town of Mountain City and its police department. According to the policy and procedures for the department, whenever an officer fires his gun he must immediately report it to a supervisor, then make a written statement. Putnam refused to make a report.
- WICONISCO TOWNSHIP, PA, 10/17/13: A Wiconisco Township man was charged with reckless endangerment after state police said he fired a round from a pistol that became lodged in the door of a car that belonged to his neighbor. John Core, 56, of Parkview Drive, was showcasing the pistol to a friend in his garage during the Oct. 17 incident, police said. Core failed to properly unload the pistol and pulled the trigger, which discharged a round that exited the garage and went through his neighbor’s garage. The bullet lodged in the passenger door of his neighbor’s vehicle, police said.
- POYNETTE, WI, 11/01/13: Corrective action has been taken after a police officer accidentally fired a rifle earlier this month. On Nov. 1, at about 1 a.m. a Poynette Police Officer was doing maintenance on a rifle when the incident occurred, according to police chief Donald White. White said the officer became distracted by a telephone call while reloading the weapon. “When he came back to finish loading the weapon, he forgot he had already set the sear,” White said in the press release. “He put the magazine in the weapon. He then went to set the sear and the weapon fired.” The round went into the chief’s office creating a hole the size of a 50-cent piece. White said the wall has been repaired and the officer was the only one in the police department at the time. “In checking with other law enforcement agencies, the accidental discharge of rifles is more common than I knew,” White said.
- JACKSONVILLE, FL, 11/04/13: A man is recovering after being shot in the leg Monday morning. Jahvar Devon General, 32, is accused of firing shots at the ground and hitting a 25-year-old, according to a police report from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Police responded to reports of a person shot in the 300 block of West 25th Street and found Marcus Dwayne Davis with a towel wrapped around the bottom of his left leg. Davis was evaluated by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and taken to an area hospital. A witness told police General and Davis were playing around with a long gun and General fired the gun two times, with one of the shots ricocheting off the ground and hitting Davis. Police met up with Davis at the hospital who initially claimed he was shot by someone he did not see, according to the report, but later claimed he was accidently shot by General. A search warrant was issued for Generals' home where police allegedly found three guns and ammunition.
- COLUMBIA, SC, 11/04/13: Authorities say former South Carolina football player Kenny Miles shot himself last week in a parking lot and will be charged with filing a false police report. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Tuesday that he will not speculate why Miles shot himself in the upper arm Nov. 4 and then lied to officers, saying he was robbed. Lott says Miles remains under a doctor's care and will be charged when he recovers. The sheriff says a gun found in Miles' trunk matched the bullet fired into his arm. Miles initially told deputies he was shot by a man was trying to take his championship rings and money.
- WESTERVILLE, OH, 11/05/13: A 23-year-old man shot himself in the foot while cleaning his .38-caliber revolver, Westerville police reported. The incident happened at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the man's home in the 500 block of Apple Street. According to Westerville police reports, the man pulled back the hammer on the gun to check something, when the hammer slipped, causing the loaded gun to fire. The man was treated for a minor injury to his pinkie toe at Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital.
- WILLITS, CA, 11/05/13: After a man shot himself in the hand with a gun at a Brooktrails residence, deputies arrested the handgun's owner for illegal possession of a firearm. Ralph John Rumble, 38, of Brooktrails, told deputies he recently bought two guns from a friend. Rumble is prohibited by law from possessing any firearms. Deputies recovered a .380 caliber handgun and a 7.62 caliber rifle from Rumble's residence on Bear Drive. The unidentified gunshot victim told deputies he shot himself in the hand with the pistol while he and Rumble were preparing to go target shooting the morning of Nov. 5.
- LANEXA, VA, 11/05/13: On Nov. 9, the sheriff's office investigated such a case at a Lanexa home. A deputy was dispatched to a residence on Cooks Mill Terrace after homeowners noticed a bullet hole in the wall of their upstairs spare bedroom, and found a bullet on the floor. The couple, who wishes to not be indentified for privacy reasons, is not sure when the bullet was shot through the wall of their home, but believes it may have occurred on Nov. 5, when they heard a peculiar noise upstairs. "A member of the family heard what they thought was a picture frame falling in an unused bedroom," McLaughlin said. "On Saturday, Nov. 9, [the family member] was in the bedroom and noticed a hole in the wall and found what appeared to be a projectile." According to the family member, there were also marks and dents on two other walls, indicating that the bullet bounced around the room before falling to the floor. "The trajectory of the round led the homeowners to believe that the round was fired into the air and not at a game animal," McLaughlin said.
- ANNAPOLIS, MD, 11/08/13: A 15-year-old boy was taken to an Anne Arundel hospital after he told police he shot himself in the leg. Around 10:30 p.m. Friday, the teen flagged down Annapolis Police in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive and told them he'd been injured, according to a release from the police department. The Baltimore boy later admitted he had accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to remove a handgun from his waistband, police said.
- CARRINGTON, ND, 11/09/13: A hunter was injured Saturday morning in an accidental shooting in southeast Foster County, Sheriff Michael Tufte reported. Tufte said a waterfowl hunter was accidentally hit in the lower abdomen after a deer hunter shot at a buck that was running toward the area where the waterfowl hunters were concealed. The waterfowl hunters heard the shooting and were putting on blaze orange clothing to become more visible when one of them was hit, Tufte said.
- HARTFORD TOWNSHIP, MN, 11/09/13: A Sauk Rapids man was shot Saturday in a hunting accident, the Todd County Sheriff’s Office. The incident happened about four miles north of Long Prairie in Hartford Township at about 5 p.m. Mike Dreher suffered a single gunshot wound to the right chest, the sheriff’s office said.
- EDEN, VT, 11/09/13: Vermont Fish and Wildlife authorities say a pony was accidentally shot and killed during Youth Hunting weekend. Officials say the pony was killed Saturday in Eden by a 14-year-old boy who thought he was shooting at a deer. Wardens who investigated the accident say the boy, who was hunting with an adult at the time, had witnessed two deer running in the pasture prior to shooting the pony. Because the 14-year-old is a juvenile, his name was not released by investigators. Vermont's top game warden, Col. Dave LeCours, says the boy violated "the cardinal rule" of hunting by not knowing for sure what his target was. LeCours says the boy and the adult he was hunting with did not violate any Fish and Wildlife laws, but they could face animal cruelty charges. He says state police and the Lamoille County state's attorney are reviewing the case.
- KINGSPORT, TN, 11/09/11: Dispatch was called when a city man shot himself in the foot. He told police it was an accident, he didn't know the handgun was loaded.
- BARTLESVILLE, OK, 11/09/13: A 50-year-old local man was reportedly injured Saturday when a small caliber handgun went off at a local gun shop. Bartlesville Police Department Capt. Jay Hastings said the shooting happened around 1 p.m. Nov. 9. “The victim had taken a pre-1950 .22 revolver in to have it looked at, and it accidentally went off and shot the customer in the groin,” Hastings told the Examiner-Enterprise.
- ROCKFORD, IL, 11/10/13: It appears Saturday night's shooting on Montague was an accident, all caused by men playing with a gun. Rockford Police say two or three men were playing with a revolver around 9:30p.m. Saturday the home at 621 Montague when it accidentally went off, shooting one man in the chest. He is expected to be okay. No one was charged.
- MYRTLE BEACH, SC, 11/10/13: A 21-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his leg Sunday afternoon and was treated at an area hospital, according to authorities. The victim told officers that he was in a mobile home near the Racepath area about 3:30 p.m. Sunday when he shot himself in the right thigh, police said. The victim said he was on the bed inside his friend’s house, but the victim did not know the exact address, according to the report. The victim said he opened the night stand, saw a small black gun and removed it. The victim said as he removed the gun, he pulled the trigger and shot himself, according to the report. The victim said he ran out of the house and a woman saw him and drove him to South Strand Medical Center.
- COLUMBIA, SC, 11/10/13: A 14 year old girl remains in critical condition after what police are calling an accidental shooting. Investigators say it appears the teen was among a group of children at Latimer manor on Lorick Circle playing with a gun Sunday night when it went off. Police say a 16 year old boy has been charged with unlawful possession of a pistol in connection with the incident.
- DOVER, NC, 11/10/13: A teenager is recovering at the hospital after deputies say he shot himself in the hand with a pistol. Officials with the Craven County Sheriff’s Office tell us it happened at a home on Main Street in Dover around 9:10 Sunday. We’re told the 13-year-old victim was gathering some items with his mother for his hospitalized grandfather from the man’s home. Officials say the teen found a single shot pistol which fired and hit him in the hand. Officials say fired was believed to be a .410 round.
- MT. GILEAD, OH, 11/10/13: At about 4:20 p.m. Sunday, deputies responded to the 6000 block of Township Road 86 in regards to a shooting. According to the news release, a 14-year-old Morrow County girl had shot herself in the abdomen with a rifle. She was flown to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where her condition is listed as serious.
- MEADVILLE, PA, 11/10/13: The investigation continues into the apparently accidental shooting of a juvenile early Sunday morning in Meadville’s Fifth Ward. Shortly after midnight, Meadville Police were dispatched to the Lincoln Avenue area in response to a report of shots fired, Police Chief Eric Young told the Tribune Tuesday. “Officers checked the area and found nothing,” Young said. “No one was located and numerous juveniles were spoken to but no information was gained.” Just over three hours later, officers were dispatched to Meadville Medical Center to investigate a report of a juvenile male found to have a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen. “Through the investigation thus far, the incident looks as though it was an accidental shooting, but the incident is still being investigated,” Young said, noting that another juvenile male has been identified as the subject who fired the shot.
- LITTLE ROCK, AR, 11/11/13: Police are searching for a suspect in an attempted robbery that occurred early Monday afternoon. Officers and emergency crews responded to the call at Trinity Circle shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, where police say three suspects ran to the home after an attempted robbery at an unknown location, prompting the resident to call 911. According to LRPD detectives, one of the suspects shot himself in the leg, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, one suspect is in custody and the other is still on the loose.
- LITTLE ROCK, AR, 11/11/13: A woman was unknowingly shot in Little Rock Monday night. Lt. Sidney Allen says a woman was taking out the trash between 10:30 and 11 p.m. in the 3400 block of W. 14th Street. Allen says she heard a gunshot and thought nothing of it and went inside and went to bed. Allen says she woke up Tuesday morning and saw blood in her bed and went to the hospital. An x-ray revealed she had a bullet in the back of her leg; the injury is non-life threatening.
- MINNEOTA TOWNSHIP, MN, 11/11/13: A hunting accident was reported in Jackson County on Monday. Authorities report that it took place around 2:20 PM Monday in Minnesota [sic] Township of Jackson County. According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, a group of deer hunters were walking a grove at an abandoned farm place hunting for deer. One person was walking through a grove on the property while others were posting. A deer ran between two hunters and shots were fired.
- FRANKLIN, NE, 11/11/13: The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an accidental shooting that occurred Monday afternoon near Franklin. According to the sheriff’s office, one person was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney via AirCare after being involved in a hunting accident east of Franklin at about 12:30 p.m.
- AUGUSTA, GA, 11/11/13: The gun Dominique Sullivan, 19, used to shoot his friend accidentally was stolen four days before the shooting, Capt. Steve Morris with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office confirms the gun was stolen from an unlocked Dodge parked on Fairfax Street in Martinez the Thursday before the shooting. On Nov. 11, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office responded to 2560 Andorra Drive to find 18-year-old Delarrion Smith with a gunshot wound to the chest. Smith later died from his injuries at GRU. Witnesses told deputies Smith picked up Suillivan and that the two were close friends.They said once Sullivan got into the vehicle, he began horseplaying with Smith. According to the sheriff's office, Smith pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Sullivan in a playful manner. Sullivan grabbed the gun and removed the magazine then pointed the gun at Smith and pulled the trigger believing the handgun was unloaded.
- RONKONKOMA, NY, 11/12/13: A Ronkonkoma man lost a toe when a shotgun in the bedroom of his home fell onto the floor and accidentally discharged late Tuesday night, Suffolk County police said. The identity of the man was not released. Police said he was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The accident occurred at 11:31 p.m. at a home on Bradford Avenue, police said. Police had no available information about the shotgun gauge -- or what caused it to discharge. Police said the force of the blast caused the victim to lose a toe on his right foot. There were no charges in the incident, which police said has been ruled an accident.
- VICKSBURG, MS, 11/12/13: Relatives tell NEWS CHANNEL 12 that a six-year-old girl is on life support after a family friend accidentally shoots her in the head. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said it happened on Cooper Road around 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. A 16-year-old was taken into custody, Pace said. The victim's name is Jamerica Ragsdale who family says is the youngest of five siblings. Joe'l Johnson, Jamerica's sister, said on Monday [sic] night that Jamerica's heart is still pumping but doctors are telling them her injury is too severe for her to recover. The person in custody is the boyfriend of a family member who relatives say was messing with the .22 caliber handgun that seemed to be jammed, Johnson said. Authorities said two shots were actually fired in the process. Several children were home when that happened. Authorities said those shots went through the walls from the bedroom to the living room.
- MANSFIELD, OH, 11/12/13: A man handling a firearm near the 800 block of West Fourth Street around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday shot himself in the leg, according to Mansfield police. The victim, Michael Doyon, 21, was taken to MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital and is expected to recover, Sgt. Chad Brubaker said. “We believe it was self-inflicted,” Brubaker said at the scene. “It’s evolving rapidly at this point.” The man is believed to have accidentally discharged the firearm at another location before seeking help at StarTek Inc., on West Fourth Street.
- WILKESBORO, NC, 11/12/13: A man accidentally discharged his gun inside a Wilkesboro GNC store during a discussion about the second amendment, striking a printer, according to police. According to a Wilkesboro Police Dept. incident report, officers responded to the GNC store on Winkler Street around 8 p.m. Tuesday. A witness told police he was speaking to a customer and they were discussing second amendment rights and guns around 6:50 p.m. The customer then pulled out his handgun and accidentally fired a shot, striking a printer, the witness said. The customer then reportedly told the worker “he could not go down for this.” The customer was described as a white male, younger than 28-years-old, brown hair, brown eyes, 5’8″ and around 170 pounds. He left the store in an early 2000s model dark colored Honda Civic.
- MAGNOLIA, TX, 11/12/13: The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in which a Magnolia man was accidentally shot and killed during a struggle with his father. Deputies first responded to a report of a shooting shortly after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 29000 block of Baltic Avenue in Magnolia, according to a press release. The deputies found Rodolfo Alvarez, 19, had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses told deputies that Alvarez became angry when he and others were asked to leave the scene, according to the release. He then allegedly produced a rifle and threatened to shoot his father. A struggle over the gun ensued and the rifle discharged, striking Alvarez in the head.
- MARRERO, LA, 11/12/13: A Bridge City man showing off a pistol accidentally shot a teenager in Marrero, authorities said. Ryan Bellanger, 21, is also accused of possessing a stolen gun, according to Glen T. Boyd, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Deputies were called to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero about 2 p.m. Monday [sic] (Nov. 12) after an 18-year-old arrived with a gunshot wound to his upper right torso, an arrest report said. The teen, who is expected to recover for the wound, told investigators the shooting occurred at a residence located at 5027 Woodstream Drive in Marrero. The teen said Bellanger pulled a pistol from his waistband, and the gun discharged. He refused to press charges against Bellanger. But deputies who searched the Woodstream Drive residence found a .9mm pistol that had been reported stolen out of Mississippi, the report said. Deputies also recovered a .22-caliber pistol and several magazines of ammunition, the arrest report said. Bellanger is on probation for gun and drug charges, according to records from Jefferson Parish's 24th Judicial District Court. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 to possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, illegally carrying weapons and possession of marijuana. Judge Nancy Miller gave him a suspended prison sentence and a term of in-house probation, court records said.
- GOSHEN, IN, 11/12/13: A rural Goshen man was lying in bed when a bullet was shot into his bedroom Tuesday night. Elkhart County police were called to the home of Bryan Corbridge, 50, 57191 Sequoia Drive, Goshen, at 10:57 p.m. Corbridge told police that the shot came through the outside wall. He did not know who shot the bullet and he was not injured.
- HAWKS, MI, 11/12/13: Police say an accidental shooting killed a young boy. Tuesday night, Presque Isle County deputies responded to the scene of an accidental shooting. They found a 10-year-old boy from Hawks dead from the gunshot wound.
- DOVER, NH, 11/13/13: Police charged Timothy James Stone, 23, of 42 Main St. #16, Dover, with felony reckless conduct. At approximately 1:37 a.m. this morning, a resident of 42 Main St. contacted the Dover Police Department and reported that at approximately 11:30 p.m., while sleeping, he had heard a loud bang and initially didn’t think anything of it. At approximately 1:30 a.m. he woke to find what appeared to be a bullet hole in a wall that separates his apartment from a neighboring apartment. Officers immediately responded to the building and began to investigate. The investigation revealed that at approximately 11:30 p.m. while inside his apartment (42 Main St. #16), Stone discharged one round from a Colt M-4 Carbine rifle. The bullet traveled through the wall separating Stone’s apartment from the reporting resident’s apartment. The bullet entered the reporting resident’s apartment approximately 3 feet from where he had been sleeping, continued into the living room, passed through a sofa and was located intact.
- HURST, TX, 11/13/13: An employee at a North Texas Target accidentally shot himself in the hand with a gun dropped by a customer on Wednesday afternoon, police say. Hurst Police Assistant Chief Steve Niekamp said a shopper with a concealed handgun license brought the .22 caliber revolver into the store at 1400 Precinct Line Road. As he was leaving, the small gun fell out of his pocket without his knowledge. A store employee who found the gun thought it was a lighter and tested the trigger, shooting himself in the hand, Niekamp said.
- CHICAGO, IL, 11/14/13: A Cook County sheriff's deputy was hospitalized Thursday afternoon after he was accidentally shot in the foot, a sheriff office spokesman said. The deputy was injured about 3 p.m. in an "accidental discharge of a firearm," said Ben Breit, a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. He could not say if the deputy had shot himself. Breit said the deputy was hit in the foot and was taken to an area hospital "as a precaution." No one else was injured when the gun discharged in the lobby area of the sheriff's office's administration building at 3026 S. California Ave., Breit said.
- HERKIMER, NY, 11/14/13: A Herkimer man has been charged with firing a rifle inside an apartment complex in the village, police said Thursday. Jerry Holmes, 21, of 115 N. Main St., was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, following a complaint that a bullet traveled through the wall of Holmes’ apartment into a next door apartment where a mother and daughter were sleeping, Herkimer police. Police recovered the bullet after it lodged in a couch, police said. No injuries were reported.
- SCARBOROUGH, ME, 11/14/13: A Portland woman found with a gunshot wound in her head Thursday night in Scarborough was the victim of an accidental shooting, police said Friday. Carol Dorney, 47, was transported to Maine Medical Center after Scarborough police responded to a reported shooting at 38 Running Hill Road and found the Portland woman wounded in the driveway. Police received the call at 9:44 p.m. Thursday, according to a Friday morning news release issued by the department. After detaining what the release called “several people” from the scene, investigators declined to press charges against anyone, Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse of the Scarborough Police Department said Friday. “The initial investigation has indicated that this was an accidental discharge of a firearm, and it doesn’t look like there are going to be any charges,” Rouse told the Bangor Daily News. According to Rouse, the homeowner at the location was confused about an altercation taking place in his driveway, heard somebody say, “I’ll kill you” and mistakenly believed the threat to be directed at him. The homeowner then came out of his residence with a gun, lost his handle on the weapon, and it fired as he bobbled it. “He didn’t mean to aim it or anything,” Rouse said. “He was just carrying it out.”
- ORLANDO, FL, 11/14/13: Orange County deputies have arrested a man they say killed his wife who was pregnant with his twin boys. According to deputies, Michael Boyce initially told investigators that his wife, Alexis Boyce, shot herself in their apartment but his story later changed when he was confronted with more evidence. He eventually told deputies that he accidentally shot her in the head, Sgt. Mike Ruggiero said late Thursday. Alexis and Michael Boyce had been married about a year. She was eight months pregnant with twins when she was killed. Only one of the boys survived. Ruggiero said the infant was in critical condition Thursday night. He is the neonatal intensive care unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.
- VESPER, WI, 11/14/13: A Wood County deputy who left his county-issued assault rifle on the trunk of his squad car on Thursday afternoon, then drove away, can breathe a little easier. Someone found it and turned it in. The person who found the unloaded AR-15 rifle returned it to Wood County authorities, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release. At about 3 p.m. Thursday, a deputy was putting the rifle into his vehicle and inadvertently left it on the trunk and drove away, Lt. Shawn Becker said. The department reported the rifle was found about 3 hours later. Authorities thought the rifle was somewhere along Wisconsin 186 or Wood County HH or F in the towns of Hansen, Sigel or Vesper. The deputy will serve a 12-hour suspension effective immediately, Wood County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Randal Dorhorst told WSAW-TV of Wausau. The deputy will be reinstated after the suspension.
- HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP, MI, 11/14/13: A 36-year-old Highland Township man is recovering at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital after he was allegedly shot in the face Nov. 14 at his home along the 4700 block of Hickory. According to a report, deputies were dispatched to the home via 9-1-1 shortly after 7 p.m. for a gunshot wound and were told the victim was accidentally shot by a friend, a 37-year-old White Lake man, who then fled the scene but later returned and turned himself in to deputies. “We’re looking at it as an accident right now, but we’re continuing the investigation,” said Highland Substation Commander Sgt. Matt Snyder, noting the victim thus far has been medically unable to speak with detectives. “He’s still in the hospital and will have to undergo surgery.” A report issued by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the incident. The report also said the man fled on foot to the nearby Highland Hills Golf Course after the shooting while still armed with the weapon, a 9mm handgun, while allegedly making suicidal statements that his “life was now over” and “I’m gonna kill myself.” A perimeter was established by deputies from Highland, as well as Commerce, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol Enforcement Unit and a K9 Unit, which established but later lost a track on the man. When the man later returned to the residence and turned himself in to deputies, he allegedly said he disposed of the gun somewhere on the golf course. Deputies were not immediately able to locate the weapon and returned during daylight hours to continue the search. Snyder said only “pieces” of the gun were recovered.
- MUNCIE, IN, 11/15/13: Authorities conducted a massive search on the Ball State University campus Friday afternoon after several witnesses reported to police they heard a man yelling "Gun! Gun! Gun!" in the Health and Physical Activity Building. After more than 3 1/2 hours, however, police found no gunman or evidence that a threat had been made. Ball State University Police Department officers were the first on the scene, and were quickly joined by officers with the Muncie Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office and the Indiana State Police. Delaware County Emergency Management Agency and homeland security was also on hand to assist, as police staged at McKinley and Neely avenues as traffic in the area was being diverted. Early on in the situation, officials stressed to those on the scene that it was not an active shooter situation, but that it was a perceived threat and they were searching the area accordingly. Several local SWAT officers entered and searched the four-building complex. Officers, students and staff nearby were temporarily put on high alert just less than two hours into the search when a loud "bang" was heard along Neely Avenue, in front of the Recreation and Wellness Center. Eaton police Chief Jonathon Snodgrass confirmed to The Star Press Friday evening that one of his officers' assault rifles accidentally discharged a single bullet into the street. Snodgrass — who preliminarily blamed the discharged firearm on a "malfunction" — said the gun will be inspected on Monday. The gunshot caused a short-lived panic for those standing nearby, however. Officers commanded students and staff evacuating nearby buildings to rush to safety into the College of Architecture and Planning building. Ball State junior Becca Sutton was one of those students standing nearby when the officer's gun discharged. She said up until that point, she felt safe, given the large police presence in the area. "After that, I mean, I was like shaking," Sutton said.
- PEND OREILLE, WA, 11/15/13: A 16-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound in rural Pend Oreille County on Friday. Sergio M. Tinajero, 16, of Yakima, was found dead near the 1800 block of Deer Valley Park Road after 4 p.m., according to a news release from the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office. The body was found about a quarter-mile down a logging road and 200 yards into the woods. Tinajero was hunting with family members when he was shot, according to the release. It appeared the boy died of a single gunshot wound.
- MARRERO, LA, 11/15/13: A Marrero man who spun a tale of being wounded by an unidentified gunman eventually came clean to authorities and admitted he accidentally shot himself. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office dispatchers received reports of gunfire near 6th Avenue and Ames Boulevard in Marrero on Friday around 8:30 p.m., according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office arrest and incident reports. The deputy went to the Marrero hospital and spoke with Jamil McKey, 25, who said he had been shot by an unidentified man in a black vehicle, the incident report said. But when the deputy confronted him with inconsistencies in his statement, McKey told the truth. McKey said he was carrying a .9mm pistol on his hip when it discharged as he was getting out of a vehicle near 6th and Ames, according to the report. McKey's girlfriend called 911, but McKey left the scene. He was afraid to tell the truth because he is on parole.
No comments:
Post a Comment