MT: Probably could have been avoided
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:40 pm
Baker, Montana (middle of nowhere): A man was charged with a felony in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy. The incident is described in court documents as follows:
- Jim
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... 002e0.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;[The suspect] was at his home ... where he lives with [his girlfriend] and her children, including [the deceased]. On the morning of the shooting, [the suspect] and [the deceased] were in the kitchen taking pictures of [the suspect]’s Smith & Wesson .500-caliber Magnum revolver, which had been placed on the kitchen table with two round of ammunition.
[The suspect] left the kitchen to check on a younger child, leaving [the deceased] alone with the revolver and ammunition, court records state. When he returned to the kitchen, the gun, the bullets and the boy were gone. [The suspect] said he heard a noise from the bathroom that sounded like the revolver being handled, and he called for [the deceased] and walked to the bathroom. [The suspect] partially opened the closed bathroom door, apparently startling [the deceased] who was sitting on the toilet holding the revolver on his lap.
[The suspect] told police that [the deceased] then tossed the pistol to him.
[The suspect] “tried to catch the gun, but it went off in his hands and fell to the floor,” court records state.
The bullet passed through the edge of the bathroom door and hit the boy in the head.
- Jim
