Man kills masked burglar, then discovers it's his 15-year-old son

44-year-old Jeffrey Giuliano, of New Fairfield, Connecticut, got a call from his sister who lives next door about 1 a.m. Thursday. She told him she thought someone was trying to break into her house. So Giuliano grabbed a gun and went outside.
According to reports, when he got outside he found a man dressed in black with a black ski mask covering his face. The man was holding a knife. Giuliano told police that a confrontation occurred, that the man approached him in a "threatening manner" and he was afraid he was about to be assaulted with the knife, so he opened fire.
Giuliano shot the man multiple times, including shooting him in the head.
Police arrived just moments later and found Giuliano sitting on the grass, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. The man he shot lay dead in the driveway, the knife still in his hand.
A state police spokesperson said the identity of the dead man was not determined until some time after the shooting when detectives removed the mask and discovered it was Giuliano's 15-year-old son, Tyler. "All in all it's a tragedy," he said.
A town official told reporters, "You certainly don't expect it to happen in your own small hometown where there's very little crime."
Giuliano is a fifth-grade teacher at the local school. Tyler was a student in his class and after learning his grandmother was too ill to care for him, Giuliano adopted the boy.
According to a classmate of Tyler's, "He's a great student. He got straight A's. He barely did anything wrong in high school. He was one of the nicest kids you would ever meet."
Detectives are working to figure out exactly what happened. They say the investigation will take weeks.

"Extremely disoriented" hospital patient finds gun in wife's purse, shoots it

68-year-old Kyle Bragg of Glynco, Georgia was a patient in a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. His wife, 64-year-old Linda Bragg, who has a concealed weapons permit, was visiting Kyle. Linda forgot she had a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in her purse.
According to a hospital spokesperson, Kyle "who is a patient at the hospital who does appear to be extremely disoriented went into his wife's purse where there was a gun. A that time he did fire off a round. It did go into a wall."
Florida allows individuals with a permit to carry loaded, hidden guns into hospitals. The public can only hope that those with a concealed weapons permit can at the very least remember where their guns are.

Woman attending New Mexico State University football game shot by stray bullet

57-year-old Patsy Beljarano of Las Cruces, New Mexico was attending her first college home football game at Aggie Memorial Stadium at New Mexico State University. She was sitting in the general admission section, eating candy when she felt something sting her left leg. She reached down, touched her jeans and saw blood, and realized she had been shot.
A local fire chief sitting in the same section tended to Patsy's wound until the paramedics arrived. She was airlifted to a medical center in El Paso. She was treated and released the next day and is now home recovering from her injuries.
Police are investigating the incident. They believe the bullet was probably fired from outside the stadium, possibility in celebration of a touchdown.
Patsy believes her leg probably blocked the bullet from hitting a young boy who was in the seat next to her.
Patsy told reporters that she had witnessed a shooting several years ago during a high school football game when a 14-year-old boy was wounded.
"It's ridiculous," she said. "You can't even go out anywhere anymore."

Man trying to reload handgun unintentionally shoots and kills his friend

27-year-old Daniel Griffin, of Middlesex, North Carolina, was trying to reload a handgun when he unintentionally discharged the weapon. The bullet struck his friend, 21-year-old Taylor Samonia who was in a wheelchair nearby.
Taylor was struck in the left side and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Griffin has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Flight attendant forgot she had gun in handbag, police unintentionally discharge gun while examining it

Jaclyn Luby is a flight attendant for Republic Airlines, a small regional carrier who operates flights for US Airways. On Sunday morning she showed up to work but forgot she had a loaded, unlocked handgun in her purse.
According to reports, Luby was walking through airport screening at Terminal C at Philadelphia International Airport around 6:50 a.m. She placed her purse and carry-on bag through the x-ray machine. TSA screeners saw the .38 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and notified a Philadelphia police officer.
The officer was trying to secure the weapon when she unintentionally discharged the gun. The bullet went into a TSA break room where an employee was sitting. No one was injured.
Luby has a concealed weapons permit for the gun but told police she forgot the gun was in her purse. She received a summary citation for disorderly conduct. Despite the fact that she lost track of her loaded, unlocked handgun, she will be allowed to continue to carry a gun in public.
According to a police spokesperson, the officer who discharged the gun "will go back to training for handling weapons. She will be off the streets for a period of time."

Hunter unintentionally shoots and kills himself while on cell phone with girlfriend

59-year-old David Young, of Gaston, South Carolina, was out hunting, walking on a road near St. Matthews and talking on the phone with his girlfriend when the cellphone went silent.
According to the coroner, his fiancee "could not get any response from him on the cellphone and she alerted authorities to the location."
When the sheriff arrived they found Young "with no signs of life and with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest."
It appears that Young tripped and fell which caused him to unintentionally discharge the gun.
A spokesman reminded hunters to "always make sure your guns are pointed in a safe direction and that the safety is on."

Man in critical condition after being hit in face by ricochet bullet

Two men got into a fight over a woman at the Southern Pines Mobile Home Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. According to a witness, "the dude in the crutches pulled the gun out and shot."
Witnesses said the gun was pointed towards the ground when it was fired. The bullet then ricocheted across the street and struck a man in the face. Two days later the man remained in the hospital in critical condition.
A mother whose children were outside playing said, "It could have been an innocent kid that got shot about nothing, just like an innocent person got shot about nothing."

After overcoming homelessness as a teenager to become a star high school football player 22-year-old unintentionally shoots and kills himself

When 22-year-old Marcus Dixon was in the seventh grade his father drove him to Stamford, Connecticut, dropped him off and told him 'Kid, you're on your own now.'
Thankfully, Marcus was taken in and later adopted by the McInerney family. He went on to become captain of the Stamford High School football team.
According to his coach, "When he came to us there were a lot of things that we needed to address that had nothing to do with football, but we used football as a way to deal with them. The turnaround that kid made is probably the greatest I have ever seen in my 20 years of coaching."
Marcus went on to play football at West Point before moving back to Stamford. Last week he was showing his Glock handgun to friends when he unintentionally shot and killed himself.
According to police, "The gun came out, they said he pulled the magazine out, started showing everybody, and then at that point he put it up towards his head and we think he believed the gun was unloaded and it went off."
His friends tried to perform CPR to save his life but police say knowing the type of gunshot wound he would never have survived it.

Man who unintentionally shot and killed his wife admits he did a "stupid thing by getting drunk and messing with a rifle."

59-year-old Bertrand Schroeder, of Dreher Twp., Pennsylvania, admitted that it was a "stupid thing" to get drunk and start "messing" with his rifles. While trying to unload one of the guns he unintentionally discharged the weapon and shot his wife, Donnalynn, in the neck.
Donnylynn, 51, was taken to the hospital and died during surgery.
Schroeder told police that his wfie had bought him a case of beer in the morning and that he spent most of the day drinking the beer. He also told police that his wife had given him money to buy the two rifles a month ago because she was concerned about rabid raccoons. Rather than go to a licensed dealer who would perform a criminal background check, he bought the guns from "a guy over in Moscow" because he knew it was illegal for him to possess guns as he had an aggravated assault conviction in New Jersey.
Schroeder was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, illegal firearm possession and fifty counts of cruelty to animals.
The animal cruelty charges were related to 50 beagles police found inside the home. According to the complaint the home and conditions were "deplorable for both human and animal welfare." The dogs were taken to a local shelter.

Vendor made up story about robbery, too embarrassed to admit he unintentionally shot himself

30-year-old Dusty Moore, of North Ogden, Utah, operates a corn stand at a small strip mall. He told police that he was robbed and shot Saturday morning. He described the robber as a man between 25 and 30 years old, 5 foot 6 inches to 5 foot 8 inches tall and 190 pounds. He added that the suspect appeared to be Hispanic and was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
The owner of the farm that sells the corn to Moore told reporters that Moore was robbed at the same location about a month ago. "He didn't go back to work for a few days after the robbery," the farmer said. "He was jittery."
But after a police investigation and interview with Moore, it was determined that Moore unintentionally discharged his handgun, inflicting a single gunshot wound to his lower back.
Police said Moore made up the story about the crime because he was embarrassed that he had wounded himself.
Police have also determined that Moore's claim of being robbed earlier in the summer are also false.
Moore faces charges of accidental discharge of a firearm and making a false report to police.