WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two Purdue University students have been arrested after a man was fatally shot near campus in what police call an accidental shooting.
Twenty-one-year-old Landon Siela of Fort Wayne died at a Lafayette hospital after being shot in an off-campus apartment about 7 p.m. Saturday.
West Lafayette Police Lt. Troy Harris says Purdue students Cory Lynch and William Calderon -- both 22 -- were pointing guns at Siela as a joke when Lynch's gun fired, striking Siela in the throat.
Lynch was arrested on suspicion of reckless homicide and pointing a loaded firearm, both felonies. He was being held Sunday at the Tippecanoe County jail on a $10,000 surety bond.
Calderon was arrested on suspicion of pointing an unloaded firearm and false informing, both misdemeanors. He was released on bond from the jail.
It's difficult to say if the gun was legally owned, but I suppose it doesn't matter. Whether Mr. Lynch was a legitimate gun owner or not doesn't change the fact that he was engaging in behaviour that violated all of the famous 4 rules of gun safety.
My question always seems to be the same. How common is this? How many times do you think this kind of nonsense results in a round being fired which luckily hits no one? Such an incident would certainly go unreported and therefore is beyond any verifiable statistics, but I suggest it's pretty common. Guys who do this are part of the Famous 10% under the heading General stupidity and irresponsibility. one half of 1%.
What's your opinion? Don't you think young people in their 20s frequently lack the maturity and common sense to be responsible with guns? I didn't say all, but I'm afraid this characterization of your average 20 something young man is true more times than it is false.
What do you think?
