On Sunday, Sept. 15, Longwood University student Jacob Richardson, 22, accidentally discharged a firearm, causing a non-life threatening leg wound to Longwood student Kathleen Battle, 21.
According to a police report distributed by the Farmville Police Department, the act occurred around 8 p.m. and was later described as an “accidental shooting.”
In an email interview, Richardson gave the details on the happening. He stated that on Sunday, Sept. 15, he arrived at Battle’s home at 504 High Street around 7:50 p.m. to pick up a handgun that he left the previous night.
The handgun was a Springfield XD sub- compact .40 caliber handgun.
Richardson noted that he left his truck at another house and decided to leave the handgun in Battle’s room to avoid having it stolen from his truck.
“Upon my arrival to Kathleen's house on Sunday night, I realized that the handgun was still loaded and that I should unload it in order to make it safe,” Richardson said.
Richardson described unloading the gun, and stated, “Battle was standing close to me.”
Describing the process, Richardson said he dropped the magazine out of the gun, then grabbed the slide of the gun and pushed it back in order to eject the bullet.
“As soon as I pushed the slide, the gun went off in my hand. My hand was immediately burnt by the explosion coming from the barrel (referred to as powder burn), and then I turned towards Kathleen and realized that the bullet had struck her in the leg,” Richardson said.
Richardson stated that he has never been previously charged with any criminal offense of any sort, including misdemeanors and felonies.
“I will also say that I have over 12 years of experience when using and handling guns,” Richardson stated.
As reported from the Sept. 18 issue of The Rotunda, Richardson was charged with Reckless Handling of a Firearm and was released pending a court appearance in Prince Edward County General District Court on Sept. 30 at 9 a.m.
Reckless Handling of a Firearm is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to the Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System website. The website further details that the authorized punishment for a Class 1 misdemeanor is “confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.”
He added, “Almost any one that knows me will confirm that I am responsible and knowledgeable when it comes to all types of firearms and firearm safety. There is such [a] thing as an accidental discharge of a weapon, and it is extremely unfortunate that this happened.”
Just like our favorite pro-gun commenters, young Jacob cannot bring himself to take responsibility for his individual negligence. Even if the gun spontaneously exploded in his hand, which he seems to be saying, he was pointing it at the girl. Of course he didn't say a single word about his lousy and negligent muzzle control at the time of the supposed accident.
As we mentioned when we posted about this at the time of the incident, he has already been charged with the lesser of two possible crimes, one which will allow him to continue being the negligent danger to society that he always has been, all the time insisting he isn't and that anything which goes wrong is not his fault.
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