Tag: ACCIDENTS
Man accidentally shoots himself in church while advocating for right to have guns in church
A man accidentally shot himself and his wife inside a Tennessee church Thursday while advocating the right to bring guns to church.
The individual was displaying a Ruger handgun to other churchgoers in the sanctuary about 50 miles south of Knoxville when he apparently forgot it was loaded, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“I carry my handgun everywhere,” he said while removing the ammunition magazine and showing the firearm to other members of the church.
The man began to re-holster his weapon — but first put the magazine back into the firearm and loaded a round into the chamber, the local police chief told the paper.
Someone then asked to see the weapon. The man pulled the gun out of his holster and claimed it wasn’t loaded before pulling the trigger.
“Evidently he just forgot that he re-chambered the weapon,” the police chief said.
The gun fired and the bullet sliced the man’s hand before piercing his wife’s abdomen.
Both he and his wife, who are in their 80s, were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where they were expected to survive.
‘Worst nightmare’: Parents sue hotel after 5-year-old boy’s skull gets crushed in rotating restaurant
The family of a 5-year-old boy whose skull was crushed in the rotating wall of a hotel restaurant has sued the Atlanta hotel, accusing it of negligence in his death.
Attorney Joseph Fried filed suit Wednesday for Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose son Charlie died April 14.
“What started out as the best family trip, turned into the worst nightmare,” Rebecca Holt said in a statement emailed by Fried.
They had chosen the Sun Dial restaurant “because it was recommended as a fun place for families with kids to see the Atlanta skyline and enjoy a meal,” Charlie’s father, Michael Holt, said in the statement.
Marriott International, the hotel’s owner, didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.
Police had said the boy wandered away from his family’s window table at the restaurant atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel and got his head stuck between tables. They also said the rotating floor shut off automatically when he was struck.
The lawsuit disagrees with police statements.
It said the family left along a path that various members had used without problems to go to and from the bathroom. But this time, it said, a booth rotating near a stationary wall blocked their path.
Charlie, a few steps ahead of his parents, “was too short to see past the booth and did not appreciate the danger until it was too late,” and was trapped in the “pinch point” between booth and wall, according to the lawsuit.
“To Michael’s and Rebecca’s horror, the rotation did not automatically stop when Charlie got trapped,” the lawsuit states, and there was no emergency button to stop it.
Rebecca Holt tried to pull her son free and Michael Holt “threw his body against the booth,” but both actions were futile, it said.
It said Michael Holt heard his son’s skull crack before someone finally stopped the rotation.
“The family has filed this law suit to set the record straight about what happened and to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that no other family ever has to suffer the same fate,” Fried’s statement said.
Defendants include Marriott, as well as the chain that previously owned the Peachtree before Marriott bought the chain. Also named are other former owners and operators, and the architects, interior designer and contractor in charge of renovations to the restaurant in 2012 and 2013.
The hotel reopened the restaurant in June.
“After Charlie’s death, Marriott has said that it won’t allow the restaurant to revolve again until it has addressed the dangerous pinch points,” Fried’s statement said. “Marriott should not have waited for this tragedy before acting to correct this hazard, especially while it held itself out as a safe place for kids.”
Driver who mowed down 4-year-old boy gets shot dead after stopping
Police in Ohio are hunting for up to three suspects after a driver who was allegedly speeding down a residential street was fatally shot for striking a 4-year-old boy.
Police said Jamie Urton, 44, was killed after he got out of his vehicle to check on the injured child and an argument erupted between him and onlookers Friday.
“There was some type of confrontation that took place after the accident,” Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Steve Saunders told The Post. “I don’t know exactly what ensued, but as a result of that confrontation, there was gunfire that occurred and the victim was struck several times and was killed.”
No suspects had been identified as of Monday, Saunders said.
The boy’s father, Jamal Killings, told WCPO that his son was released from the hospital with bleeding in his brain on Saturday — one day after the violence on Kenton Street, where police said the boy was hit by a car after crossing into the road.
“My job as a father was to get my son face first off the concrete and take him to see medical attention, and that’s what I did,” Killings told the station.
The car had been speeding at about 45 miles per hour just prior to the crash, he said.
“I initially stopped the car, you know, a lot of kids play on that street — that’s residential, 15-25 [mph],” Killings said. “I initially stopped him. He slowed down a bit and then he kind of like swerved around me, hitting my other son. My son wasn’t hit in the middle of the street. He was hit on the curb.”
Killings apologized to Urton’s relatives, saying he didn’t agree with the apparent vigilante street justice.
“I apologize for your loss,” Killings said. “I don’t condone violence. I don’t teach my kids violence. That should never have happened … an unfortunate situation, unfortunate event, but I hope we can all learn from this.”
Killings said the boy must be monitored closely for the next six weeks and could require surgery due to his injuries.
Witnesses told police that three people were involved in the shooting, WCPO reported.
“I pulled right into it,” witness George Gaines said of the crime scene. “He was parked in the middle of the street.”
Gaines said he saw Urton slumped over into the car’s passenger seat as police responded to the shooting.
“The police pulled out from every place,” he said. “It was crazy.”
A passenger in Urton’s car was also injured by the suspects, but was not shot, WLWT reports. Police said it’s unclear whether the victims were dragged from the car or were attacked after they exited the vehicle.