Concealed weapons permit holder showing off gun fires shot inside sports bar

36-year-old John Smith of Orlando, Florida was inside Miller's Orlando Airport Ale House when he drew his .45-caliber Kimber handgun to show its safety features to a friend.  Smith unintentionally discharged the gun.  The bullet hit the floor and shattered. 22-year-old Leanabel Torres-Rodriguez was sitting with Smith.  She was struck by a piece of the bullet, leaving a small wound above her right ankle.

After the shooting, Smith panicked, left the bar and drove home.  He later returned, without his handgun, and told police, "I'm the guy you're looking for."

Smith has a concealed weapons permit and told police he was not drinking while at the Ale House.

Smith was issued a trespass warning banning him from the Ale House.  Police are investigating the incident and no other charges have been filed.

9-year-old boy shot and killed while playing with rifle

9-year-old Landry Oliver, of Guyton, Georgia was playing in his backyard with his 11-year-old neighbor.  The boys found a loaded, unlocked .22-caliber rifle in a shed at the home and began playing with it.  According to police, "At some point the rifle discharged, striking Oliver in the head."

Oliver was airlifted to a hospital in Savannah where he died of his injuries.

The sheriff is calling the shooting a "horrible tragedy."  "The initial investigation indicates that the shooting appears to have been accidental. We are not pointing fingers at anyone at this time at all, but with that being said, we would like to stress the importance of gun safety," he said.  "We ask and encourage everyone to keep weapons locked and away from children."

Man unintentionally shoots and kills himself trying to demonstrate gun safety

A 36-year-old Independence Township, Michigan man was trying to demonstrate gun safety to his girlfriend. The girlfriend told police that the man had been drinking all day and was explaining to her that his three handguns are safe when they aren't loaded.  To demonstrate this, he placed the guns against his head and pulled the trigger. 

When he pulled the trigger on the third handgun, it discharged.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police report that there were three children, ages 7, 10 and 12 in the house at the time but they did not witness the shooting.

The sheriff commented that he had "never heard of anyone testing out the safety of a gun by pointing at their head and pulling the trigger."

Police are not yet releasing the man's name and continue to investigate the incident.  The medical examiner has ruled the death a suicide.

Man unintentionally shoots and injures 5-month-old girl

21-year-old Arin Futrell of Durham, North Carolina was standing talking to his girlfriend on her front porch Wednesday morning.  Futrell unintentionally discharged a handgun that was in the pocket of his sweatshirt.  The bullet hit his girlfriend's 5-month-old daughter who was in a car seat on the porch.

The girl was hit in the hand and the leg.  She was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Futrell was arrested and charged with felony negligent child abuse resulting in bodily injury.  He was also arrested on outstanding warrants charging him with attempted breaking and entering.

A neighbor called 911 after hearing the gunshot.  When asked what kind of gun it was, the caller responded "it was a loud gun, whatever kind of gun it was, it was super loud."

Off-duty cop unintentional shoots his gun at Shooters Waterfront Cafe

Miami-Dade Corrections Officer Marcus Thompson was off-duty, sitting at a table at Shooters Waterfront Cafe in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thompson was getting ready to leave and reached into his right pants pocket for money and a valet ticket. During this process he unintentionally discharged his Glock 19 9mm handgun which was unholstered in the same pocket.

According to reports, the bullet "hit the metal base of the table and fragmented, causing minor shrapnel injuries to multiple persons surrounding the immediate area." At least nine people were injured by the shooting. A 79-year-old woman visiting from New Jersey was taken to the hospital for shrapnel in her buttocks.

After the shooting, Thompson gave the service manager $100 with his bill and left the restaurant with his wife. When the manager realized what had happened he went outside to find Thompson and told him to wait for the police.

The incident is still being investigated and no charges have been filed.

Man trying to cover-up unintentional shooting causes massive police search, business lockdowns

30-year-old Mario Walden was at the Baymont Inn & Suites motel in Brunswick, Georgia early Friday morning when he unintentionally shot himself in the leg with a handgun.  Walden told police he had been shot by a 5 foot 6 inch black male wearing a mask and a multicolored long sleeve shirt.

An estimated 20 uniformed officers plus detectives and a dozen special operations team officers responded to the shooting scene to search for a gunman who did not exist.

A nearby day-care center and other business were locked down while heavily armed officers conducted the search of the motel and surrounding area.

Police now believe Walden unintentionally shot himself and that a friend hid the gun for him so he wouldn't get in trouble for having it.

Walden was airlifted to a trauma center for treatment.  His condition has not been released.  Police are still investigating the incident and no charges have been filed.

After being paralyzed by a stray bullet artist learns to draw with her mouth

In 1997, then 20-year-old Mariam Pare was driving with a friend near Richmond, Virginia. While stopped at a stop sign, Pare looked over to see a group of people gathered on a corner in the rain.  As she started to drive away, someone fired a gun.

"I heard the popping of the gun, and I saw the glass flying and it all happened really fast," said Pare.  "It was just noise and then I couldn't move.  I didn't know I'd been shot.  I just felt a kind of bolt of electricity behind me and a flash of heat."

The bullet had struck her spinal cord, leaving her a quadriplegic.

At the time of the shooting, Pare was a promising young artist.  She spent three months in the hospital before transferring to a rehabilitation institute in Chicago.  There, an occupational therapist suggested she try to write her name while holding the pen in her mouth.  Pare was surprised that she could write this way.

"I was like, oh, wow I could apply this to painting," Pare said.  "Maybe I could draw, or maybe it might be fun to paint while I'm in here and have all this time.  That's when I kind of got excited and decided to explore what I could do again."

Since then, Pare has worked on her art and now pursues a career as an artist.  This month, she will be a featured artist in two shows. And, any day now, she expects to take a job that will pay her a comfortable salary to paint.

Police never made an arrest in the shooting.

Mother of 13-year-old killed in unintentional shooting wants state law changed

13-year-old Eddie Holmes, of Puyallup, Washington, was at a friend's home. There were five boys in the house when one of them pulled out his stepfather's loaded, unlocked shotgun from behind a bedroom headboard.  Another boy took the gun and pumped the shotgun and unintentionally fired the weapon.

Eddie was shot directly in the chest, killing him.

Police arrested the 13-year-old boy who fired the gun but Eddie's mother says the shotgun owner should have made sure the gun couldn't fall into a child's hand.

"Because our state has yet to agree on locking and securing guns, I'm left with the unbearable task of planning the funeral of my 13-year-old-son," she said.

Washington is one of the 22 states that have no laws regulating child access prevention to firearms. Child access prevention laws impose criminal liability on adults who give children unsupervised access to firearms.  Research has found that 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked weapons.

50-year-old man unintentionally shoots and kills himself

50-year-old Rowland Denison, of Spanish Fork, Utah was taking a .270-caliber rifle from his vehicle when he unintentionally discharged the gun.  Denison was shot in the stomach.

When police arrived they found Denison conscious and communicative.  He was taken to the local hospital. Doctors wanted to fly him to a larger medical center in Provo but weather conditions prevented the flight.

Denison was operated on at the local hospital and flown to the hosptial in Provo later in the day.  He later died of his injuries.

Boston teen unintentionally shoots and kills 9-year-old brother

9-year-old Janmarco Pena, of Boston, Massachusetts, was home sick on Friday.  His 14-year-old brother was home as well.  According to police, the older boy was "handling a firearm recklessly when it discharged, striking his younger brother."

Janmarco was shot in the chest. When police arrived on the scene they found he had died of his injuries.  Boston police commissioner stated, "Our hearts are broken for everyone involved here. I was here when they wheeled the boy out; it breaks your heart to see a young kid like that,  a curly-haired kid, be wheeled by with a gunshot wound to the chest.  It is just a terrible, terrible incident for the family involved."

Police have charged the 14-year-old with involuntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm. The evidence does not suggest that any other person in the home knew the boy possessed the gun. Police have not said where the boy got the gun.

In response to the shooting, Boston Mayor Mary Walsh announced plans for a gun buyback program.  "We've done gun buyback programs in the past that have been successful but we've got to try something a little different.  National gun reform is important.  Most of these guns are coming from out-of-state, states that don't have tough gun laws."

Man unintentionally shot in the head while ice fishing

54-year-old Scott Fraley, of Raymond, Maine, was ice fishing with friends on Cobbosseecontee Stream Sunday when he was shot in the head. The wound was not life-threatening and he was able to walk off the ice on his own. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and released.

The police reported they found 21-year-old Bryan Hickey walking in the woods behind the West Gardiner Rod and Gun Club, carrying a bolt-action rifle. Hickey told police he was "in the woods hunting and had just recently attempted to shoot a squirrel that was in a tree."

Police think the bullet ricocheted off the tree and then struck Fraley.

Police are still investigating the incident and no charges have been filed. It is illegal to hunt on Sunday in Maine.