[Mark Tyson]

Bullet Wounds KKK Initiation Participant

The Associated Press
Monday, November 24, 2003; 1:31 PM

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.

Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.

About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.

A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.

Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.

[Azrael256]

How... um... unfortunate. I really feel sorry for... uh... somebody.

[TheeBadOne]

Apparently he didn't understand the gravity of the situation... :D

[4v50 Gary]

One incarcerated brain dead guy with brain activity and another hospitalized brain dead guy with no brain activity. I wonder what they have in common?

[Andrew Rothman]

Unlikely in the extreme:

http://www.loadammo.com/Topics/March01.htm

...it was concluded that the bullet return velocity was about 300 f.p.s. For the 150 gr. bullet this corresponds to an energy of 30 foot pounds. Earlier the Army had determined that, on the average, it required 60 foot pounds of energy to produce a disabling wound. Based on this information, a falling 150 gr. service bullet would not be lethal, although it could produce a serious wound.

Then there's wind:

Wind can have a dramatic effect on where a vertically fired bullet lands. A 5 mile per hour wind will displace the 150 gr. bullet about 365 ft based on the time it takes the bullet to make the round trip to earth. In addition the wind at ground level may be blowing in an entirely different direction than it is at 9,000 feet. It is no wonder that it is so difficult to determine where a falling bullet will land.

On second, thought, I guess it could happen.

Assuming ONLY a 5 mph wind, and assuming a shot nearly straight up, there is a 720 ft^2 square where the bullet might fall. The surface area of a typical skull (mine) appears to be 6x7 inches, or 42 in^2, or .29 ft^2.

That makes it a one in 2500 chance that one bullet would land on Gomer's head. Assuming a 30-round magazine was emptied, that makes it a one-in-83 chance of a cranial hit.

But a kill? Unlikely.

And most of all:

The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree...

So on top of everything else, the bullet made it down through branches and leaves?

Check for powder burns!

Sounds more like someone capped the guy.

[hso]

Natural selection in action.

[TallPine]

I don't think the guy who was shot was the initiate ...

[Braz]

:D

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/11/24/klan.initiation.ap/index.html

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) -- A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.

Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.

About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.

A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.

Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.

[Bill Hook]

It might have been fatal, had he had a brain. :D

[TheeBadOne]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51483

They didn't understand the gravity of the situation. :D

[Braz]

Thanks 3BO,

I scanned, but missed that other thread. Too good'a story to make up. :)

[roscoe]

The round went in the top of his skull and came out the bottom and he lived? Must not have been much to hit in between.

[Marko Kloos]

Sometimes life writes the best comedies.


Bullet Wounds KKK Initiation Participant


JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.

Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.

About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.

A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.




Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.

[Skunkabilly]

HAHHAHA shot with paintball guns and then with real guns to simulate noise?? Talk about tactical posers :neener:

:evil:

New poll: Which caliber for Klan initiations? :D

[hansolo]

Darwin awards all around:neener:

[Mil Novecientos Once]

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.

I wish that next time instead using a handgun somebody uses a SMG or EBR in full auto, so more racists kiss the world good bye.

[Double Naught Spy]

What a waste of a perfectly good bullet!

[HABU]

I was told they come down faster than they go up. Acording to MP's source, thats BS. Anyone else care to weigh in on the descent rate of bullets?

[Destructo6]

I guess that blows Marion Barry's assertion that the law of gravity is racist.

[mete]

The long standing habit of the arabs to celebrate things by firing into the air has taken its toll over the years. It doesn't seem to bother them if they loose a few in a celebration. The discussion of ballistics can be found in HATCHER'S NOTEBOOK - for the 150 gr service round terminal velocity is about 300 fps for energy of about 30 fp. The bullet usually falls base down.

[Mark Tyson]

he long standing habit of the arabs to celebrate things by firing into the air has taken its toll over the years.

It's not just Arabs - it happens all over the Third World and, sadly, is also practiced by irresponsible people here in the USA too.

[williegee]

It's a good thing the bullet hit him in the head. Nothing important in there to damage! Idiots.:neener:

[rayra]

"I wonder what they have in common?" Being in the Klan.

Mil Novecientos Once said it, too bad they weren't firing an NFA weapon, could have snuffed out the lot of them. Get those children de-programmed.

[RugerGuy]

Just think if that guy died......maybe his organs would've been donated to someone who wasn't white. Talk about Justice.

[Holly76201]

Can you say "Instant Kharma"?

[blades67]

Well, that's one way to dispose of white-trash.:evil:

[p35]

I've heard that in LA the cops park under overpasses around midnight on New Years to avoid this scenario. Anyone know for sure?

[Bowlcut]

I just talked to Dad a little while ago and he told me about this whole situation. Said it was interesting sounding on the scanner. Him and my step mom went "red necking" looking at the cops after they arrested the guy the other night. The guy lived only a few miles from dad's place my home place. He told me the street name since they called it over the scanner....and i was like...yup know where that is. Interesting place we live in Upper East TN :D.....where im headed to tomorrow afternoon

[GigaBuist]

I have a penchant for physics (which makes firearms oh so much more fun) so I'll weigh in on Habu's question regarding decent rate of bullets.

They most certainly do not come down as fast as the go up. This has been already eluded to with the figure of 300fps but I'll give some non-math physics mumbo-jumbo behind it to back it up. Feel free the skip the lesson if it doesn't interest you. I already have a good feeling this might be a bit long.

Okay.... lets go.

Gravity's rate of acceleration is 9.8meters/second squared. If you drop an object (ignoring air resistance at this point) at 1 meter it will be traveling 9.8m/s.

Nevermind, we'll switch this to feet/second to make it easier.

9.8 meters == 32 feet.
and: v (velocity) = a (acceleration) x t (time)

Velocity is just speed with a direction. Everything in this case is going DOWN though so for all practical purposes velocity is equal to speed.

At one second the object is going 32 feet/second, at 2 secons the object is going 64, at 3 96, etc.

Assuming that the figure of 300fps is correct for a 150 grain bullet that means that it will reach maximum speed at 9.3 seconds. It maxes out because of air resistance. Imagine sticking your arm out the window of a moving car. Lets say you're a small child with a big hand and you have your hand cupped outside the window.... and you have enough stregth to deliver 30 pounds of force to that hand to meet the resitance of the air. At 10mph this is plenty of force to keep your hand out the window... at 80mph is becomes hard... and at 300mph there's no way you're going to be able to hold your hand out there. That's air resitance.

Every object in the earth's atmosphere will experience then when dropped from a height. After a while gravity (that 32ft/s squared force) just isn't pushing on the object enough to beat air resitance -- like your hand outside a window. So it balances out and the rate of acceleration drops to zero and the velocity (speed) remains constant.

We can do a little monkey business with the numbers now to figure out just how high the 150 grain bullet will have to go before going any higher is useless in regards to it's speed when it hits the ground.

d (distance) = t (time) + 0.5 * a (acceleration) * t (time) ^2

Knowing that 300fps is the max speed (it was measured by somebody) we know that t is 9.3, acceleration is always 32ft/s/s and that gives us:

d = 9.3 + 0.5 + 32 * (9.3^2)
d = 9.3 + 0.5 + 32 * 86.50 (rounded)
d = 9.3 + 0.5 + 2768
d = 2777.8 feet.

... I'm REALLY out of practice on this so if somebody wants to contest the numbers you're more than welcomed.

So, firing a 150 grain bullet up into the air can absolutely positively have no more force than if you dropped it from 2777.8 feet out of an airplane....

At first that sounds REALLY wrong but on second thought it's reasonable. The human body hits terminal velocity (assuming belly to the earth position) in 1800 or so feet and tops out at 176ft/s which is around 120mph. So, the round in question would come down at around 220mph but never go any faster than that.

If you feel that objects just MUST have to fall faster and faster contantly when thrown from such high heights I emplore to find the nearest dropzone, do the classes, get a parachute on your back and toss your butt out of a plane. Trust me... you stop going faster after a while and that's a WEIRD feeling to be thousands of feet in the air and not feel like you're falling.

[Bigjake]

stupid jackasses deserved it, shame more raining lead wasnt accurate.

[kernal_panic]

You know you just can't make this ???? up. i will always be amazed at how stupid people are.

[Nightfall]

I can't really say I'm surprised. Bigots aren't exactly known for their intelligence.

[Jedi_7.62]

I love it when the trash takes itself out!!!!!!

It's a shame they weren't playing with grenades........

Another vote for Darwin Awards....


.....So this guy "let" someone put a noose around his neck????
I know these guys have to be idiots but come on....


....GOOD RIDENCE!!!!!!

[Harry Tuttle]

if a 22lr can fly a mile flat
how far does it go straight up?
it returns at a gravity mediated acceleration rate

if the barrel is at ~85 degrees
how does it land back on top of the initiation party?
It would arc off and land at a distance from the launch point

seems like either Darwin's working overtime

or there was another more logical scenario for the bullet
to impact someone head with 8 inches of penetration

[williegee]

GigaBuist:

Just read your post. Feel like I deserve 3 college credits now!;) :D :p

[Kaylee]

on the front page if you look quick --

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/


:rolleyes: couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

looking at his pic.. all of a sudden I remember why I own guns.
frickin' frackin' so-and-so.

-K

[lazhuward]

Here's an interesting article from The Straight Dope: "Can a bullet fired into the air kill someone when it comes down?" (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950414b.html) If the bullet in this case penetrated through the guy's entire head lengthwise, it doesn't sound likely that it fell from the sky.

[c_yeager]

It was established a long time ago that there is no WAY that a bullet fired straight up can cause that much damage. And thats ignoring the VERY unlickely possiblity of it hitting him at all. A bullet fired straight up no matter how high it goes can go no faster than its terminal velocity no matter how fast it was moving when it was fired. A .45 calliber bullet moving at 300fps is simply not going to penetrate a skull. Let alone go through the top and bottom period. Someone either simply shot the guy or the whole story is made up.

[Delmar]

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon:rolleyes: "

[p35]

All together now:

BULLETS DO WEIRD STUFF! It's not impossible that the damage was done by a bullet coming back down, because nothing is impossible with bullets. Personally, though, I think that alcohol and a game of William Tell is a lot more credible explanation.

[bogie]

Well, if that fellow is swimmin', I want out of the gene pool...

I'd weigh in on the William Tell theory myself. I doubt one would get that sort of penetration, even without hair...

You know... If there's anything I hate more than skinheads, it's Tennessee skinheads...

[Langenator]

[/Gump] My momma always said, 'Stupid is as stupid does.' [/EndGump]

And let me add-Stupidity SHOULD Be Painful

[cracked butt]

Does anyone know the caliber of the pistol used? If it were a .45 auto shooting 200gr bullets, I WOULD believe it.

I have a high performance bow which shoots arrows at 400gr. They have no problem penetrating and exiting a deer carcass. You have to consider that an arrow has alot of bearing surface and therefore has alot of friction to overcome to do this.

A 200 gr bullet going 300fps? I can certainly see it going through the skull and maybe even exiting. A .22 rimfire bullet? probably not.

Like someone else said, it sounds more plausible that alcohol and horseplay were involved.

Either way, I'm not losing sleep over the great loss to our society that came from the incident:evil:

[Preacherman]

The shooter, the victim, and all present at that gathering, to judge by their conduct, seem to represent the truth of that old description:Snuck into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn't looking!

[stevelyn]

Hmmf..........A twofer deal. One is likely to get dirt shoveled in his face, the other goes to jail. Who could ask for more? No innocent parties involved.:D

[Ironbarr]

I consider Vertical Object Propulsion rather dangerous considering generally erratic results. Between Darwin and Murphy (and other forces in the universe) it is always a dangerous activity (for most folks).

I would, however, recommend daily VOP exercises for certain (unnamed) groups whose attrition factor requires fine tuning.

-Andy

[seeker_two]

Bullet Wounds KKK Initiation Participant

Thanks. My faith in God has been restored.... :D

[ScottsGT]

QUICK! Somebody call Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton!

But they're probably ROTFLMAO too hard to answer the phone.:D :D

As Jackie Currie on the John Boy and Billy show puts it: "Stupid white people!"

Maybe they should make those pointy hats out of kevlar?

[BryanP]

Let us be thankful that God and Newton have a sense of humor. :D