ND Kills Tow Truck Driver

[KelVarnson]

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=596595

Freak Shooting Kills Tow Truck Driver

September 18th, 2007 @ 5:51am
by Bob McClay/KTAR

Phoenix police are investigating a freak shooting in north Phoenix that left one man dead.

Officers responding to a call on 29th Avenue, north of Deer Valley Road found a tow truck driver dead in the street at around noon.

Detective Ruben Gonzales says he apparently was struck by a stray bullet.

"Inside one of the homes here the resident apparently was handling a rifle -- he was cleaning it or handling it -- but discharged one round from that rifle inside of his home."

The bullet went through the mobile home "and struck the tow truck driver through the front windshield of his truck."

Gonzales says the tow truck driver was picking up a vehicle down the street.

He says after the shot was fired, the gun owner ran outside and saw the truck still moving. He opened the door and put the brake on. The tow truck driver was dead at the scene.

"At this point, the investigators are seeing if this was an accidental shooting or if there was any negligence involved with the gun owner."

The tow truck driver is identified as 59-year-old Cecil Eugene Pugh of Phoenix.

Police have not released the name of the gun owner.

There's no word yet on any charges.

 

[Chipperman]

"At this point, the investigators are seeing if this was an accidental shooting or if there was any negligence involved with the gun owner."

Sad story.

 

[strat81]

"At this point, the investigators are seeing if this was an accidental shooting or if there was any negligence involved with the gun owner."

Umm... killing some you didn't want dead sure counts as negligence in my book.

KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE ON SIGHT AND READY TO FIRE.

 

[highfive]

sad real sad...but negligence to me.

 

[30 cal slob]

just so sad.

 

[Harley Quinn]

It has "Manslaughter" written all over it.

 

[RoadkingLarry]

A bad deal for sure. But, if instead of an "accident" with a gun, the man had been killed due to an "accident" with a car how would it play out different? Like as not the person would not be charged.

 

[cpaspr]

RoadkingLarry-
But, if instead of an "accident" with a gun, the man had been killed due to an "accident" with a car how would it play out different? Like as not the person would not be charged.

True. If it was an accident. However, unless the gun was defective, which is the only way it could fire and be deemed an "accidental discharge", the only way the gun could fire was if someone had their finger on the trigger and pulled it. Pulling the trigger on a loaded, properly functioning weapon, without being aware a) that it is loaded and b) of what is downrange, is a negligent discharge. If the shooter was aware of a) but not b), it is still negligence, but could possibly be construed as a callous disregard for the consequences.

 

[Kentak]

Well, it was a negligent discharge, and the shot killed someone. Hence, negligent homicide. Negligent because there is no reason for a gun, absent mechanical failure, to go off unintended. I've had one ND myself, and it absolutely was carelessness and being unfocused. Negligent. It tends to humble you and reminds you of the need to be responsible if you're going to own a gun.

K

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Could also be negligence coupled with stupidity. Imagine someone chambering a round in an SKS whereupon chambering the free floating firing pin stuck in the forward position (due to fouling, cosmoline, etc) strikes the primer causing the rifle to fire.

I am not saying that is what happened but in inside the realm of possibilities. People should really know how a firearm works before they start messing around with them loaded. :banghead:

 

[RoadkingLarry]

Didn't mean to sound Like I was defending the shooter, mearly pointing out the double standard used against gun owners. "Accident" was in quotes for a reason. The gun owner was indeed negligent but as i said if it was a car driver that had had an "accident" and killed someone they should be held to the same standard.

 

[gregthehand]

But often people pull out in front of another person and that other person dies, and they don't go to jail. I know I might get scourned for saying this but I think the reprecusions should come in the form of a wrongful death suit. Accidents due happen, and all accdients are the result of negligence. Parts fail, people make mistakes, etc. To me (and most states' laws) negligent would be if this guy had been say shooting in his back yard down the road not being aware of where the bullets were landing. He would have been firing (intentionally) but not being aware of where is bullets were hitting. Manslaughter would be if he was shooting down the road and new there was a good chance someone was down there, but shot anyway. Murder and capital murder of course are completely different. For a crime to have been commited you have to have a cognitive decision, and no or should have known there would have been a harmful result. In this guys case he was not aware that the gun was loaded and was not trying to fire the weapon. Therefore it was trually "accidental". Is he guilty in Civil Court? YES. Is he guilty in Criminal Court. I don't think so. Will he pay for the rest of his life over this. ABSOLOUTLY YES.

 

[Cosmoline]

Hmmmm Color me skeptical. Cleaning it vs. aiming it at a target when you think it's unloaded. The chances of setting a round off while cleaning a rifle are extremely low, even if you're not being particularly careful. The chances of having that rifle aimed at a truck down the street when you have your cleaning related ND are astronomical. But the chances of forgetting you put a round in then dry firing at some big target--a LOT higher. I see idiots doing it at gun stores all the time. I used to chide them, but I don't bother anymore. The same idiots might very well pick some moving car to dry fire at.

For a crime to have been commited you have to have a cognitive decision, and no or should have known there would have been a harmful result.

His decision was to pick up the rifle and pull the trigger. You don't have to know the firearm was loaded to be guilty of manslaughter. Indeed the whole point is it's a negligent or reckless homicide.

 

[gregthehand]

But often people pull out in front of another person and that other person dies, and they don't go to jail. I know I might get scourned for saying this but I think the reprecusions should come in the form of a wrongful death suit. Accidents due happen, and all accdients are the result of negligence. Parts fail, people make mistakes, etc. To me (and most states' laws) negligent homicide would be if this guy had been say shooting in his back yard down the road not being aware of where the bullets were landing. He would have been firing (intentionally) but not being aware of where is bullets were hitting. Manslaughter would be if he was shooting down the road and knew there was a good chance someone was down there, but shot anyway. Murder and capital murder of course are completely different. For a crime to have been commited you have to have a cognitive decision, and no or should have known there would have been a harmful result. In this guys case he was not aware that the gun was loaded and was not trying to fire the weapon. Therefore it was trually "accidental". Is he guilty in Civil Court? YES. Is he guilty in Criminal Court. I don't think so. Will he pay for the rest of his life over this. ABSOLOUTLY YES.

 

[Mainsail]

I’m sure he thought it was pointed in a safe direction too, but there really isn’t a ‘safe’ direction with a rifle in a stud-built house.

Sadly, according to some of the apologists around here, the ND was inevitable.

What a sad tragedy

 

[Cosmoline]

gregthehand, there's a distinction between an ND and an AD. The true accidental discharge is caused by some freak of the firearm's design or some combination of events that sets it off when it should never have gone off. A sear that can set the firearm off when you press the side, for example. If you didn't know a Nambu could do that and you grabbed one, setting it off, that would be a classic AD. Or losing your revolver when getting out of burning building and then having the rounds cook off. Or for example firing too early when you're aiming at some animal because a branch or something hits the trigger.

Any other discharge is at least negligent, since it requires the shooter to pull the trigger intentionally.

there really isn’t a ‘safe’ direction with a rifle in a stud-built house.

Assuming there's no basement--straight down is pretty darn safe. Or as safe as you can get. That's where I aim when dry firing a rifle for storage or to test the action.

Manslaughter would be if he was shooting down the road and knew there was a good chance someone was down there, but shot anyway

That would be a higher level of manslaughter. The lower levels, however classified under a state's penal code, include negligent conduct leading to death. Since he was responsible to clear the chamber and point in a safe direction before pulling the chamber, he was certainly negligent. If he was capping off rounds randomly in suburbia he was at least reckless.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

-- he was cleaning it or handling it --

Think I'll go with Cosmo on this.

The "cleaning my gun" defense wears pretty thin.

I may be a "newer" shooter, but the idea that I would CLEAN any of my guns without having first checked and double checked to ensure it was clear . . . that just strains the bounds of belief.

Folks keep this up and we're gonna wind up with an 'S' felony for "doing stuff while under the influence of stoopid."

(BTW, anyone note the alacrity with which the shooter ran outside to "see if anything happened?" Almost as though he knew in advance that the rifle was pointed where it might do harm.)

 

[canopy2k]

From what I know of this story, this was no AD.

The bullet exited his mobile home through a window.

I think it very likely that he was goofing off and aimed it at the truck-driver. He then pulled the trigger, thinking he was dryfiring. Instead of click, he got a bang.

c2k

 

[yesit'sloaded]

I'm with y'all on this one. I never aim my rifle out the window and pull the trigger while cleaning them. Most of the time they have the action out and before that the mag is dropped or opened. People who shoot themselves in the foot can claim cleaning accident, people that hit a target out a window across a street are just murderers from carelessness.

 

[milo z]

Greg, do people really 'not go to jail all the time'? Seems like I hear an awful lot of stories about people doing stupid things with their car, killing people, and going to jail for it. Vehicular manslaughter is not exactly unheard of.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

It might be an accident but this one sounds awful fishy to me. It's amazing how many people have "accidents" while "cleaning" a gun. Just happened to fire out his window, through the windshield of a moving truck, hitting the driver in the head? One heck of an accident...

 

[Travis McGee]

The clincher to me is that he KNEW he'd shot the driver right away. He was able to immediately run out and stop the truck, with no delay. He knew where his bullet went, as soon as he heard BOOM! instead of 'click'. IMO, he was doing a dry-fire aiming practice.....and the gun was loaded. That's just what it sounds like to me. If it was truly an AD or ND, he'd have been shocked, and looking around his trailer for a minute. He was right onto that moving truck....

 

[yesit'sloaded]

Never point a gun at anything you don't want to destroy, treat all guns as if they are loaded, keep your finger off the trigger, never point a gun at a person that isn't threatening your life. Seems like just about every safety rule in the book was broken on this one.

As they say, it's always the unloaded guns that kill people.

 

[denfoote]

They are still investigating, but last I heard, no charges are expected to be filed.

A Tragic Gun Accident in Phoenix

A tow truck driver is dead after a man cleaning a gun inside his own home accidentally fires his rifle.
By Associated Press

Phoenix police say a tow truck driver was killed Monday afternoon when a gun owner cleaning a rifle accidentally fired the weapon. The incident occurred near 29th Avenue and Deer Valley Road.


Investigators say the gun owner was manipulating the firearm and thought it was unloaded. The rifle discharged sending a bullet through a mobile home window covering, a window and across 29th Avenue where it struck the windshield of a tow truck that was traveling east.Police say the bullet went through the windshield striking the driver identified as 59-year-old Cecil Pugh.


After the rifle discharged the gun owner ran outside where he found Pugh in the street with a gunshot wound. The gun owner ran to the truck and jumped into the cab stopping the truck. He then ran back to the victim and called police and fire.

Phoenix P.D. says the preliminary investigation indicates the shooting was accidental.

http://www.kfyi.com/pages/local_news.html?feed=118695&article=2654701

 

[.45&TKD]

last I heard, no charges are expected to be filed

How is that possible?