what did she look like? it's strange, but i find myself wondering what she looked like.
Silverlance, I never did see her face. She was a 23 year old petite Asian woman. I held the door when the paramedics carried her from the bay on a backboard and placed her on a gurney. The lower part of her face was covered by an oxygen mask and the upper part of her face, as well as her entire head, was covered by loose bloody bandages with a towel. I have been very curious about the wound(s). It may seem morbid to some but part of me wishes that I had gone up to her (before the paramedics and cops arrived) and looked at her head. I am still uncertain if there was even an exit wound. The blood splatter on her shooting lane was all on the right side, which could indicate that it erupted from an entrance wound. Since no one saw her do it, no one knows exactly how she was standing when she made that final trigger pull. She may have been pointing the muzzle downrange, standing sideways, facing the right side of the bay. In that case, the blood on the right could have resulted from an exit wound. I believe there had to be an exit wound based on my observation of a single, isolated patch of blood on her left shoulder. Right temple shot + blood on left shoulder = exit wound. (?)
Gunsmith asked:
Are you sure it was suicide?
Two different coroners (city and county?) came out to the range to view the scene. I assume they had both already seen the girl. If the wound to her temple had a shallow entry angle it would seem possible that it was an accident, that she had possibly been scratching an itch. If the shot was basically horizontal I would have to speculate that the shot was deliberately aimed at fired.
plus we'll always be here for you.
Taurus66, oddly enough I find great comfort within the THR community. That night at the range I couldn't wait to get home and tell everyone here what had just happened. You guys are the only ones I know who might understand and sympathize. And, also very important, I knew that no one here would blame the gun! I kid you not, one of my very first thoughts when I saw the girl lying on the floor was "How will this affect my girlfriend's view." She is slowly (very slowly) coming around from an anti mindset. Actually, I believe that a suicide reflects less poorly on the safety of shooting sports than do accidents resulting from ricochets and negligent discharges. I knew that this type of publicity could harm the range I work at, and in CA there are constituents everywhere barking and begging the elected officials to do away with all things gun related. I didn't want to be the one to let the cat out of the bag, so I PM'd moderator
Beren and explained my experience and asked what he thought of him posting my experience so that my name and location would not be disclosed. He suggested that I hold off on posting it, as it sounded like an investigation was still ongoing and he didn't want anything I might write to hinder it.
I want to thank EVERYONE on THR for the advice and the support you have shown me. Even to those who did not post, it is comforting just knowing that there are like-minded men and women out there with whom I can relate on many issues. Badgerw, I am sorry to hear of the loss of your son. Thank you for sharing that with all of us here. My experience seems detached and shallow compared to what you went through.
I hope to see many of you at the national THR event:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=207455&highlight=thr+event