PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is now facing a manslaughter charge after he pointed what he thought was an unloaded rifle at his friend and shot him in the chest, police said.
Shea Michael Harkins was in a bedroom of a home on Thursday night when he picked up a Colt M4 rifle that he had been customizing and pointed it at Sean Cook, 26, Pinellas County Sheriff’s investigators said.
The friends had been playing video games at Harkins’ house, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Harkins, 26, told deputies he pointed the gun at his friend as a joke, officials said. He told investigators that Cook said, “What are you going to do, shoot me?”
He pulled the trigger, thinking the rifle was unloaded. However there was a round in the chamber, deputies said.
Man fatally shoots friend with rifle he thought was unloaded
There is a reason we are fanatical about safety: Shit will happen the moment you stop taking Gun Safety seriously.
He was customizing a rifle with a round in the chamber? I suppose he was drinking beer while doing it, too.
Here is another, just as senseless death,
https://kstp.com/news/marine-sentenced-to-5-years-for-fatally-shooting-minnesota-marine-june-19-2020/5765343/
Idiots like this are the reason no general officer ever wants to allow enlisted men and even officers to have loaded weapons, or carry their own personal weapons on base. These shootings may be rare, but the command chain all had their careers shortened by the idiot that shot a fellow Marine.
The Marines should have crucified this twit with a long, long prison term. Make an object lesson out of him, and a lesson for every Marine to remember when they handle a weapon. Five years is a slap to the face of the Family of Riley Kuznia.