Cashier at Lowe's shot when customer drops gun

22-year-old Samantha Manago is a head cashier at the Lowe's Home Improvement store in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was working in the store last Thursday when 58-year-old Dianne Darling came in to shop.

Darling was carrying a .22 caliber pistol which fell out of it's holster and went off when it struck the floor. The bullet hit Samantha in the arm. Samantha was taken to the hospital for treatment where she was listed in good condition.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident and no charges have been filed. Wyoming does not require residents to obtain a permit before carrying a loaded, concealed gun in public. Police recommend that anyone who wants to carry a concealed weapon take a firearm safety course, but the course is not required.

Two 19-year-olds cleaning handguns, one unintentionally shoots the other

19-year-old Patrick Caines, of Clark, Wyoming was with a friend, cleaning handguns. Caines' friend was dry-firing the guns after cleaning to make sure they worked properly.
"He hadn't realized one of the handguns was loaded," said the sheriff. "Subsequently, Caines suffered a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen from a .41 caliber magnum revolver."
Caines was flown to a hospital in Billings, Montana where his condition has improved from critical to serious.
The sheriff added that the office "considers this to be an accidental shooting and foul play is not suspected."

19-year-old looks back on a year of recovering from an unintentional gunshot injury

Last March, 19-year-old Tyler Oatts, of Sheridan, Wyoming was on his way with two friends to the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains to shoot prairie dogs. As they were getting ready to leave, Tyler decided to do some target practicing. He set up a can, stepped back and fired his .22 caliber handgun. The bullet ricocheted straight back and hit Tyler in the neck, severing his carotid artery and fracturing two vertebrae below his skull.
Miraculously, Tyler survived his injury, despite losing a massive amount of blood. Following surgery, Tyler was bedridden for two months. He wore a neck brace for four months and his weight dropped from 180 pounds to 140. A year later he still has an 11-inch scar across his neck and his right eyelid continues to droop. He also has an 8-inch scar on his thigh from where surgeons took a piece of femoral artery to repair the damaged artery in his neck. His shoulder is still numb and bullet fragments remain in his neck.
Tyler hopes to return to college in the fall. "I stopped all of my bad habits," he said. "I live life for everyone else, not just for myself."

Gun in purse of 17-year-old unintentionally discharged inside Wyoming Starbucks

A 17-year-old Cheyenne, Wyoming girl's father gave her a double-barrel .38 special Derringer pistol and encouraged her to carry it for protection. However, he neglected to also give her any kind of formal firearms training. Her mother knew her daughter had the gun and even though she doesn't particularly like guns, she told the girl to "point it at a bad person" if she was ever in trouble.
The girl was planning to visit friends in Laramie so she stuck the loaded pistol, with the safety off, in her purse.
Early Monday morning while at a local Starbucks, the teen dropped her purse and the gun inside discharged. The bullet narrowly missed a customer, hit the west wall of the store, bounced back to the east and rolled under the coffee counter.
Two Cheyenne police officers were in the store at the time and drew their pistols when they heard the gunshot. They arrested the teen for possession of a firearm by a juvenile. There is no state law prohibiting giving a handgun to a minor. The gun was returned to the teen's parents.
Ohh shoot.