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Teen accidentally shoots, kills father
By Andrew Barksdale
Staff writer
Greg Briggs had stepped out of his mobile home to join neighbors in the yard when he heard a bang. His porch light flickered out. He assumed the bulb had shattered.
Staff photo by Steve Aldridge
Gregg Briggs stands next to the hole made by a shotgun blast in the wall of his mobile home off N.C. 87 in Gray’s Creek. His best friend, Don Gudeahn, was killed in the shooting.
But neighbor Don Gudeahn grabbed his chest and said, ''I've been shot.''
At first, Briggs and his next- door neighbor, Melissa Gibson, thought he was kidding. But he staggered to his Toyota Corolla and slumped over, smearing blood on the hood.
Witnesses and lawmen say Gudeahn's 15-year-old daughter, Dawn, had picked up Briggs' 12-gauge pump shotgun inside the mobile home and accidentally fired it. The buckshot tore a hole the size of an adult's fist through the wall next to the door and struck her father, who was standing outside about 10 feet away.
According to Gibson, Dawn was screaming, ''Oh, my God! I've shot my dad!''
Gibson, Briggs and a neighbor who is a nurse tried to save him with CPR.
Briggs
When firefighters arrived, they told the group that Gudeahn was dead.
Gudeahn was 66 and lived at the same trailer park, Gray's Creek Mobile Estates off N.C. 87 in southern Cumberland County.
Briggs and Gudeahn had been friends for about nine years.
''He was easygoing,'' Briggs said. ''He was a good guy. If you needed something, he would help.''
That kindness led Gudeahn and his daughter to Briggs' mobile home Monday evening. They were returning from Dawn's karate class in Hope Mills when they saw a deputy sheriff at Briggs' house.
The house had been vandalized a few hours earlier by a burglar. When Briggs discovered the crime, he got his shotgun from his bedroom.
He said he laid the shotgun - with the safety on - on a recliner in the living room while he cleaned up. Gudeahn stayed to help, later stepping outside to talk with Gibson. Briggs said he needed a break, so he stepped outside, too.
Apparently, Dawn wanted to watch television in the recliner, so she picked up or moved the shotgun. That's when the shotgun fired once, Briggs said.
He said a gun novice could easily move the safety unknowingly.
No charges
Debbie Tanna, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said Tuesday that no one would be charged in the shooting.
''This was an accident,'' she said. ''This child is very distraught about this accident.''
Tanna said Dawn was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was not physically harmed. She is a student at Gray's Creek High School.
Briggs said Social Services on Tuesday placed Dawn in the care of a family who lives in the mobile home park until her relatives from Connecticut can pick her up.
Brenda Krisher, a former girlfriend of Gudeahn, said Dawn's mother lives in South Carolina. She said Dawn and her father were always together.
''She always loved her father more than anything,'' she said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Briggs had puffy red eyes after getting 30 minutes of sleep the night before. He is 42 and drives a truck for a living.
''I feel guilty,'' he said. ''I wish I could roll back time.''
He got out a gun lock, still in the wrapper, he had bought last month.
''Three dollars would have saved the man's life,'' he said.
Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3565.
By Andrew Barksdale
Staff writer
Greg Briggs had stepped out of his mobile home to join neighbors in the yard when he heard a bang. His porch light flickered out. He assumed the bulb had shattered.
Staff photo by Steve Aldridge
Gregg Briggs stands next to the hole made by a shotgun blast in the wall of his mobile home off N.C. 87 in Gray’s Creek. His best friend, Don Gudeahn, was killed in the shooting.
But neighbor Don Gudeahn grabbed his chest and said, ''I've been shot.''
At first, Briggs and his next- door neighbor, Melissa Gibson, thought he was kidding. But he staggered to his Toyota Corolla and slumped over, smearing blood on the hood.
Witnesses and lawmen say Gudeahn's 15-year-old daughter, Dawn, had picked up Briggs' 12-gauge pump shotgun inside the mobile home and accidentally fired it. The buckshot tore a hole the size of an adult's fist through the wall next to the door and struck her father, who was standing outside about 10 feet away.
According to Gibson, Dawn was screaming, ''Oh, my God! I've shot my dad!''
Gibson, Briggs and a neighbor who is a nurse tried to save him with CPR.
Briggs
When firefighters arrived, they told the group that Gudeahn was dead.
Gudeahn was 66 and lived at the same trailer park, Gray's Creek Mobile Estates off N.C. 87 in southern Cumberland County.
Briggs and Gudeahn had been friends for about nine years.
''He was easygoing,'' Briggs said. ''He was a good guy. If you needed something, he would help.''
That kindness led Gudeahn and his daughter to Briggs' mobile home Monday evening. They were returning from Dawn's karate class in Hope Mills when they saw a deputy sheriff at Briggs' house.
The house had been vandalized a few hours earlier by a burglar. When Briggs discovered the crime, he got his shotgun from his bedroom.
He said he laid the shotgun - with the safety on - on a recliner in the living room while he cleaned up. Gudeahn stayed to help, later stepping outside to talk with Gibson. Briggs said he needed a break, so he stepped outside, too.
Apparently, Dawn wanted to watch television in the recliner, so she picked up or moved the shotgun. That's when the shotgun fired once, Briggs said.
He said a gun novice could easily move the safety unknowingly.
No charges
Debbie Tanna, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said Tuesday that no one would be charged in the shooting.
''This was an accident,'' she said. ''This child is very distraught about this accident.''
Tanna said Dawn was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was not physically harmed. She is a student at Gray's Creek High School.
Briggs said Social Services on Tuesday placed Dawn in the care of a family who lives in the mobile home park until her relatives from Connecticut can pick her up.
Brenda Krisher, a former girlfriend of Gudeahn, said Dawn's mother lives in South Carolina. She said Dawn and her father were always together.
''She always loved her father more than anything,'' she said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Briggs had puffy red eyes after getting 30 minutes of sleep the night before. He is 42 and drives a truck for a living.
''I feel guilty,'' he said. ''I wish I could roll back time.''
He got out a gun lock, still in the wrapper, he had bought last month.
''Three dollars would have saved the man's life,'' he said.
Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3565.
