A paralyzed woman told police a gunshot wound to her leg was accidentally self-inflicted Saturday afternoon.
The 41-year-old Rantoul woman was taken to Riverside Medical Center shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday for a gunshot wound to her inner right thigh. The woman, paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, told Kankakee County sheriff’s police that she shot herself while looking at a friend’s pistol in Pembroke Township.
The woman told officers, who were called to the hospital’s emergency room, that she felt the gun while hugging the friend — who has not been identified — and asked to the see the weapon.
After she was shot, the friend took the gun back and left the area, according to the police report. Two other people, a man and woman, took the injured woman to the hospital but left the emergency room when officers arrived, according to the report.
No witnesses to the shooting have been found, and no arrests or suspect information has been reported.
A Springfield man who claimed to have accidentally shot himself Tuesday with a gun he found in Skinner Butte Park ended up being charged with a crime after investigators learned he is a convicted felon.
Eugene police officers were called to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District shortly after 5:30 p.m. and spoke with Benjamin E. Degroot, who had arrived at the hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to his left leg, a police spokeswoman said.
Degroot, 19, told officers that he was walking in Skinner Butte Park in Eugene when he came upon a handgun and picked it up, police said.
Degroot said the gun accidentally went off and a bullet struck him in the leg, police said.
Lane County Circuit Court records show that Degroot was convicted in February 2012 of possession of a firearm or dangerous weapon in a public building. As a result of the conviction, he is not allowed to possess guns.
One of the officers who had visited Degroot in the hospital learned of his criminal history and issued him a citation for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Degroot was ordered to appear in court at a later date and was not jailed.
A hospital spokeswoman said Degroot was not listed Wednesday as a patient at either PeaceHealth hospital in the Eugene-Springfield area.
Accidental gunshot
A man from Postfoot Circle was treated for an accidental gunshot wound Saturday afternoon.
The man was already in the ambulance when deputies arrived at his home so they spoke with his wife.
The deputies were told a family friend was at their house and they were all talking when the woman said she bought a new gun.
The man asked to hold it, so she retrieved it from her car and handed it to him.
Minutes later a shot was heard and the man said he had shot himself.
The man did not know the gun was loaded.
HUNTSVILLE — A teenager was shot and killed at a Walker County residence over the weekend in what is being investigated as an accidental shooting.
Officers with the Walker County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a reported shooting at a home in the 3000 block of Highway 19 in the early morning hours of May 18. Deputies discovered that two young boys were involved and one had been fatally shot.
Sheriff’s office detectives interviewed witnesses, including the surviving boy involved in the incident. At this time the investigation is still ongoing and, according to the sheriff’s office, is being handled “very delicate” pending further investigation and results from the Montgomery County Forensic Center.
“I would like to ask that our community keep both of these families in your thoughts and prayers,” Sheriff Clint McRae said.
BRITTON, SD -
A South Dakota high school student accused in an apparently accidental shooting that injured a classmate has been expelled from classes.
Britton-Hecla Superintendent Kevin Coles says the school board voted to expel 18-year-old Dusty Groom. A telephone listing for him could not immediately be found.
Authorities say Groom, of Lake City, was showing three boys what he thought was an unloaded .22-caliber handgun in a school parking lot on May 1 when the gun went off and a bullet hit 17-year-old Brody Heitmann in the head. Authorities say Heitmann suffered a flesh wound. He returned to classes a few days after the incident.
Groom faces misdemeanor charges of reckless discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm on school property and false reporting to authorities.
SHEFFIELD, AL (WAFF) -
A man is fighting for his life after an accidental shooting Tuesday night in Colbert County at the Autumn Point Apartments on Cox Boulevard in Sheffield.
Investigators said a man was cleaning his gun inside his apartment when it went off.
The bullet went through a wall and struck a man in the next unit through the abdomen.
At last check, the man was in critical condition at Huntsville Hospital.
Police said the shooting appears accidental and they have turned the case over to the district attorney’s office.
Copyright 2013 WAFF. All rights reserved.
On May 18, at 5:51 pm., medical assistance was requested for a man on Valley Creek Rd. who accidentally shot himself in the hand.
TRIGG COUNTY, Ky. - A two-year-old child is in recovery after being accidentally shot in the head. The child is at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, and Kentucky State Police say the child is in stable condition.
KSP has not released much information right now, because they’re still investigating, but we do know that at some point Tuesday night, a child got their hands on a gun.
The shooting happened inside 35-year-old David Southwick’s home along Cunningham Lane in Trigg County. After the shooting, the victim was taken to Trigg County Hospital and stabilized before being taken to Vanderbilt.
This case remains open, and KSP investigators have not ruled out the possibility of filing charges in the future.
How exactly that child got access to a gun remains unclear, but Lieutenant Jonathan Grant with KSP says any parent who has firearms in their home should make sure they’re out of reach. “They don’t understand the seriousness of firearms and what can happen. So, I would urge you as a parent to have your guns positioned in a place where they can’t be reached by younger children. I, personally, keep mine in a gun case,” said Lt. Grant.
About 1.7 million children in the U.S. live in homes that have loaded and unlocked guns according to a study in The Journal of Pediatrics.
A 14-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the leg Tuesday night at a home on Fairview Avenue in Lebanon, according to police.
The victim was with another 14-year-old friend looking at a gun on the front porch of the home when it discharged, police said. The victim told police he accidently shot himself while handling the gun.
The boy was taken to University Medical Center in Lebanon and then Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
His condition was uncertain, but Lebanon Police Chief Scott Bowen did not believe injuries were life threatening.
Police are continuing to investigate how the youth got the firearm, Bowen said.
A 10-year-old girl is dead Tuesday night and police say it was another child who pulled the trigger.
Tuesday night there are still many unanswered questions, including the identity of the young girl.
It’s is still an ongoing investigation. Police have not released many details because they are still trying to figure out whether it was an accident or something else.
Albemarle police responded to the 1400 block of McAllister Street in Crozet about 10 a.m. Tuesday for reports of a gunshot wound. It was later confirmed a 10-year-old girl was killed and a 14-year-old boy pulled the trigger.
“It’s incredibly tragic. Anytime you respond to a scene like this it’s difficult but to have a child involved and to have a child a victim here it’s very difficult,” said Carter Johnson, spokesperson for the Albemarle County Police Department.
The shooting happened at a home near the Open Door Ministry Center. The family of the victim is affiliated with the well-known church, but there are still many unanswered questions Tuesday night.
Police have not said where the gun came from - whether it was found in the home or brought in from the outside and how it got into the hands of the teenager. Police have also not released the identity of the victim. They say they are still trying to figure out whether this was accidental.
“Right now we’re just going through that process to make sure that we do our part to really look into this and make sure we do everything we can to investigate the crime properly,” Johnson said.
The medical examiner’s office in Richmond was able to confirm it received the body of a 10-year-old girl Tuesday, but was not able to confirm a name. The ordeal is a tragedy no neighborhood is prepared to deal with.
“It’s hard to process. It’s hard for everyone who’s involved and certainly it’s not something we see in our community very often so that’s a good thing that we don’t see crimes like this but when we do it’s difficult,” Johnson said.
Police were on the scene for much of the day interviewing people, collecting evidence and just trying to piece everything together.
The investigation will continue but right now the community where the shooting occurred is trying to come to grips with the tragic ordeal.
A man who was arrested by Salem Police two weeks ago for shooting his sister when he was unloading his gun was arraigned in Marion County Court Tuesday morning.
Raymond Steven Hernandez, 24, faces charges of assault in the fourth degree and recklessly endangering another. He was joined in court by his family, including his 18-year-old sister Nikki Apodaca, whom he shot in the leg.
Officers from the Salem Police Department responded to reports of a gunshot wound at the 2600 block of Broadway Street NE around 7 p.m. May 8. They found Apodaca with the leg wound and several other people in the apartment. Preliminary interviews suggested that the gunshot came from outside the apartment by an unknown person who was never seen, but investigtors deemed that information inconsistent with evidence on the scene.
They arrested Hernandez and took him to the Marion County Jail. He had reportedly been drinking alcohol prior to unloading his gun when it discharged and struck his sister in the leg
The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately charge Hernandez — his initial arraignment was canceled and he was released from jail.
After Tuesday’s arraignment, Hernandez said nothing like this had ever happened before.
“I was intoxicated,” he said. “I accidentally hit my sister in the leg.”
While he felt the assault charge was appropriate, he said he did not agree with the other.
Apodaca said she spent a few hours in the hospital and is recovering fine. She also said she and her brother get along.
“Seeing my sister accidentally shot was more (traumatizing),” he said. “Overall I’m just happy she’s OK.”
Hernandez is due back in court on June 18.
SPARTANBURG, South Carolina — Spartanburg County’s coroner is planning an autopsy after a man was killed by a shotgun blast to his chest.
Spartanburg police say 20-year-old David Allen Moholland was shot to death on Monday. His girlfriend was charged with murder. She is 21-year-old Erika Michelle Sutelman. Jail officials could not be reached Tuesday to find out whether she had an attorney.
Coroner Rusty Clevenger says an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.
Police say the couple had been staying at a Spartanburg apartment as guests of another couple.
A police report says Sutelman told officers they were playing with a 12-gauge shotgun inside the apartment and she thought the gun’s safety was on so she pulled the trigger, hitting Moholland.
ATLANTA — Police say an 8-year-old girl was shot in the leg late Monday evening as she slept in her bed.
The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Shawnee Apartments on Gun Club Road in northwest Atlanta.
Atlanta Police Night Commander Capt. Tim Peek said there was an altercation in the parking lot outside the child’s apartment. A man known only as Jacoby fired a shot with a high-powered rifle. The bullet went through a wooden wall, passed through a drywall and entered the girl’s mattress, striking her in the leg.
Capt. Peek said they have good leads in the case but urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Atlanta Police Department. Atlanta Police spokeswoman Kim Jones said neighbors told investigators Jacoby often stays with his girlfriend at the apartment complex.
The girl is reported in stable condition at Children’s Healthcare at Egleston. Her name was not released.
A 38-year old woman was accidentally shot by her grandfather this evening in Century.
Witnesses said the grandfather had .22 caliber weapon to shoot something in yard. The woman reportedly tried to take the weapon from her grandfather when it fired accidentally, striking her in the lower chest or upper abdomen. Her injury was not believed to be life threatening.
The woman was transported by ambulance to the Escambia County EMS Post in Century and then airlifted to a Pensacola hospital by LifeFlight.
The shooting is under investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GA. | A man shooting squirrels at exclusive Ocean Forest on Sea Island has been charged with reckless conduct after a shot from a .22-caliber rifle struck a woman on a golf course Sunday morning, police said.
Edward Georgia Johnson of Forest Road on Sea Island called police at 11 a.m. and said he had accidentally shot someone on the Ocean Forest golf course, the Glynn County police said.
A .22-caliber round had struck Jane Pendergast, 70, also of Sea Island, in the stomach at hole 5 on the course, police said.
She was in stable condition Monday in intensive care after surgery.
Johnson, 65, was charged with one count of reckless conduct, a misdemeanor, police said.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-05-20/story/woman-hit-stray-bullet-sunday-sea-island-golf-course#ixzz2TtWzyquG
