Monday, January 18, 2010

South Carolina Teen Accidentally Shot Dead

The Heraldonline.com reports on another tragic shooting accident. H/T Ohh Shoot.

COLUMBIA -- Tall and blond, David L. Dodenhoff had a casual style that made it easy to find friends, and, his mother, Connie, said, maybe slack off just a little on schoolwork.

Dodenhoff — those who knew him called him by his middle name, Luke — died Saturday morning, a day after he was accidentally shot in the head while target-shooting with a friend. The A.C. Flora High School senior was 17.

Richland County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Monique Mack said the teens were shooting on a property off Gatehill Road near Eastover when Dodenhoff was accidentally shot. The youth was airlifted to Palmetto Health Richland hospital, where he died.

“They were out there and doing some target shooting or shooting at small game,” Mack said. “The victim stepped in front of the gun while the other was aiming. It happened kind of simultaneously.”

Mack said the department is investigating, but the shooting has been ruled accidental. The second teen's name has not been released.

“It's just a tragic accident — there's no rhyme or reason,” Luke's father, David, said.

I would like to know what the father means by "there's no rhyme or reason." It's hard to get a feel from just the written word, for just what he meant by that or what he was feeling, but to me it sounds unbelievable. What kind of training and preparation had young Luke undertaken, do you think? I don't know who's worse the kid who put his head in front of the gun and ended up dead or the one who pulled the trigger. This is so far beyond violating the 4 Rules that I don't know what else to say.

What's your opinion? As a gun owner do you think you could ever allow your 17-year-old to go out shooting with such an frightening lack of training? Or do you say this is just one of those accidents, could happen to anybody, and besides, percentage-wise they're rare as hens' teeth? Is that what you'd say?

Please leave a comment.

4 comments:

  1. This is a pretty standard gunloon reaction to when somebody gets shot accidentally.

    "We never thought it could happen.."

    "There's no rhyme or reason.."

    "Who would have thought.."

    Gunloonery has its own internal logic: despite study after study demonstrating gun ownership presents a greater risk to the owner and his family---such studies are deemed biased, wrong, kooky, etc.

    Yet when an accident occurs, gunloonery dictates it is because of some mystical, cosmic turn of fortune.

    --JadeGold

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  2. I would imagine the father is crushed by the death of his son. And it wouldn't surprise me if he blamed himself, even though that doesn't come across in the brief quote. But it's a little late for that at this point. People who want to own guns should be more responsible. And when there are such blatant examples of irresponsibility, the pro-gun crowd should be screaming to high heaven in an attempt to police their own. But what they usually do is defend each other right or wrong.

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  3. Well, MikeB, I'm proud to conisider myself "unusual" that I truly care about responsible handling of firearms. Just after Christmas, I was teaching my half-brothers the 4 rules with their Nerf guns they got. I doubt they remember much of it (they are 5 and 6) but it was pretty darn cute.

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  4. Kevin said, "Just after Christmas, I was teaching my half-brothers the 4 rules with their Nerf guns they got."

    Teach them well. That's the best thing you can do.

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