Police: Gun accidentlly fired

[Cfish]

3 Injured In Accident At Lakeland Gun Range
Police: 'Gun Accidentally Fired'
POSTED: 5:00 pm EDT October 3, 2009
UPDATED: 6:35 pm EDT October 3, 2009

LAKELAND, Fla. -- An accident in a Lakeland gun range injured three people on Saturday, Polk County police said.

Donna Wood of the Polk County Sheriff's Office said the incident happened on Saturday morning at 10:38 a.m at the Saddle Creek Shooting Range at 3716 Morgan Combee Rd. She identified the victims as 29-year-old Gary Flynn, 47-year-old Patrick Thourot and his 46-year-old wife Sherri Thourot.

Investigators said the Thourots and Flynn were standing in stalls next to each other when the accident occurred.

"For unknown reasons, the Jennings 9 mm handgun the Thourots were using accidentally fired, striking Mr. Thourot in the left hand, Mrs. Thourot in the left arm, and Mr. Flynn in the shoulder and throat," Wood said.

All three were transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center where they were being treated for their injuries.

"The Thourots are in stable condition (and) Flynn is undergoing surgery for his injuries," Wood said.

Wood said that none of the victims were Polk County residents and that the Thourots did not know Flynn.

The Thourots live on Thomasville Circle in Tampa, while Flynn was visiting from Ireland and staying at Bonville Drive in Davenport.

Police said they have not confirmed the exact number of times the gun went off but said they believed it fired at least three times.

"General Crimes detectives are investigating at this time," Woods said.

 

[orionengnr]

Police said they have not confirmed the exact number of times the gun went off but said they believed it fired at least three times.

Accidentally fired at least three times?
Jennings?

Guess I don't want one of those

 

[zombienerd]

A Fully Auto Jennings...

Fun.

I wonder if it went into slamfire when they closed the slide, or if it was a random malfunction of the trigger assembly.

 

[DasFriek]

Went full auto while the most likely weaker female was shooting and she lost control maybe? Anything could happen with a crap gun like that.
Im not saying it was the gun as i don't know,human error is just as likely.

 

[pegan]

I just want to know what happened to Jennings. At one point in history, a Jennings rifle was a mark of excellence one was proud to own, or was that a different Jennings all together?

 

[B yond]

Sear sheared off? Firing pun stuck forward?

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Uh, Rule #2?

For the discharge to strike three people, the gun would have had to have been pointed sideways, no?

If it had been pointed down range, no injuries.

If it had been pointed at the floor or ceiling/sky, no injuries.

Only way to shoot people beside you is to point the gun in their direction while loaded.

Even an equipment malfunction is harmless if rule #2 is observed.

Even a mini-seizure with finger on trigger is harmless . . . if rule #2 is observed.

Wonder if the four rules are posted at that range?

Wonder if anyone reads them?

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

Wonder if the four rules are posted at that range?

Wonder if anyone reads them?

No, they don't bother.

The range I go to has a dozen rules posted all over. Yet, in the last time I went there alone, in about 40 minutes, I witnessed someone walking out of a port with a loaded gun pointing in all kinds of directions, AND not one but TWO people with 10 yard "swiss cheese" targets. That is, their aim is so bad literally the entire 24" x 36" target has holes all over it, I don't think they are even aiming at a consistant spot and the accuracy is so bad I wonder if a portion of their shots are missing the 24" x 36" target altogether at only 10 yards.

 

[JohnKSa]

Bizarre story.

Here's another article that states the gun fired at least three times AFTER being set down. I'm pretty skeptical of that story, but it looks like no matter what the truth turns out to be it's going to be something very strange...


http://www.theledger.com/article/20...WIRE05?Title=Three-Hurt-in-Gun-Range-Accident

 

[Dannix]

Ouch. I sure hope on top of all this they don't get slammed with an unregistered FA charge. At least Mr. Thourot can be comforted his wife is in better condition than he.

 

[9mm+]

No, they don't bother.

Very true. I stopped going to certain ranges because the people there are so inexperienced and complacent that it scares the living bejesus out of me. I only go to one range where the clientelle are either cops, ex-cops/ex-military, or serious shooters (who won't carry a Jennings 9mm).

 

[hometheaterman]

I wonder what the real story is here. Jennings guns are huge pieces of crap and I'd never really want to own one but I wonder if it really just went off. May have I'm not doubting it but it seems like it may be more to this story.

I had a friend who is a gun collector tell me Ruger was overpriced that you could get a Jennings that was just as good at a fraction of the cost. I didn't know much about Jennings then so I didn't argue. After doing some research I realized he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Then I know another guy who actually has a Jennings. His son talks like it's such a great gun and puts down other guns talking about how great it is. He doesn't put down other guns so much but talks like it's decent. I just keep quiet and don't say a word as I know people like this can't be convinced.


As for the guy about the Jennings rifle that much be a different Jennings. This Jennings is one that made cheap POS gun that were super cheap. Didn't they get sued by a guy that got paralyzed after getting shot with one that had a malfunction or something and close down?

 

[rondog]

I hope everyone's OK. If I were Mr. Flynn, I'd be piiiiiiissed!

 

[Shadow 7D]

I think that the suit was that he got hit by a family member or neighbor after the gun misfired as step in disassembly, If I recall correctly

 

[gyvel]

Jennings, Davis, Cobra, Lorcin, Jimenez, Wilkinson, Raven, Hi-Point, Stallard, RG, etc., etc.

What can I say, except that a fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Now I would have to say

the hi points make good quality crap, and have decent warranty service, RG made decent 22s and starter pistols,

 

[griz]

As long as we're speculating:

Given that the left hand of the shooter, the arm of the wife, and the neck of the friend could all be easily lined up, my guess is the guy got his hand in front of the barrel as he was chambering a round with his finger on the trigger. One round did all the damage, and a couple more were triggered off as the guy was trying to set down the gun while everybody was screaming "ouch, I've been shot". I guess the gun could have been possesed by the devil and gone off on its own, but that happens so rarely that I'll bet it's a product of imagination after the excitement of a friendly fire incident.

 

[Shadow 7D]

actually that was how I saw it, they would all be on about the same line, I hope Mr. Flynn has good insurance to screen for blood born diseases.

 

[Hutch]

If it went full auto, then muzzle control is going to suffer. Badly. God knows what really happened.

 

[armoredman]

One time I wish there was video recording at a range. Wow. All the time I worked on ranges and spent firing on ranges, never saw anything like that.
As for rules, no, most "casual" visitors never read them.

 

[Artiz]

I don't even consider one time being an accident, but 3 times? It's crazyness...

 

[longbeard48]

Sounds like B. S. to me. There's no way a Jennings will go bang three consecutive times!

 

[NMGonzo]

Range ... ugh.

 

[Mr.510]

Detectives say the gun fired at least three times after Thourot set it down facing his wife, rather than downrange, which is considered a proper safety procedure. The gun began to spin, striking Flynn, who stood next to a bench a few feet away.

“According to them, they set the gun down and it just went off and started spewing rounds,”

Sounds like the sear failed, was worn out, or was just plain defective. Maybe the "thump" of setting the gun down dropped the hammer the first time and then it went full auto? I can visualize the gun spinning around like a pinwheel spewing rounds as it dumped the magazine. Obviously setting the gun down facing someone was a violation of Rule #2. In this case though it may not have made much difference. Luck, or lack thereof, determined where the remaining rounds ended up. Scary stuff!

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Right, had the gun not been facing the wife, the wife might have avoided being shot, but once the gun was spinning, all bets were off as to what rounds went what direction.