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Fatal Game of Russian Roulette
  • LoveLove
    Posts: 12,847Administrator, Moderator
    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/pennsylvania-teen-face-murder-charges-fatal-game-russian-roulette-slumber-party-article-1.1126081

    A Pennsylvania teenager could be tried for murder for allegedly pointing a gun at his friend's head and pulling the trigger during a game of Russian roulette.

    “This is a tragic example of the consequences of the irresponsible handling of a firearm,” Bedford County District Attorney Bill Higgins said of the July 20th incident that left Neal Hammond, 15, dead.

    Cole McConoughey, 15, has been charged as an adult with aggravated assault in the shooting.

    Prosecutors were still considering third-degree homicide or manslaughter charges against the teen for pulling the trigger on Hammond during a sleepover at McConoughey's Everett, Penn., home.

    Police said a third boy brought the .38-caliber revolver to the slumber party, but it was unclear if he would be charged. The gun’s owner might also be prosecuted.

    The incident has devastated Everett, a town of about 2,000 people, according to Fox News.
    Both McConoughey and Hammond attended an area school, and Hammond was a talented and outgoing athlete.

    McConoughey allegedly proposed the game of Russian roulette.

    "He spun the revolver's cylinder, loading and unloading bullets, 'pointing the gun and joking around,'" according to a police report cited by Fox.

    "Let's play Russian roulette," McConoughey was heard to say.

    McConoughey pointed the gun at Hammond's head and "he pulled the trigger thinking it was going to click," police said in a report.

    Hammond was buried last week, and his family said they were mourning both their own loss and the fate awaiting McConoughey.

    "Cole has been in our hearts since this happened because he and my son were very, very close," Neal's father, 

    Scott Hammond, said. "I know it's been weighing on him heavily and we've been praying for him every day."
    Hammond also said he does not want to see McConoughey behind bars for what he believes was an accident.

    "Cole’s pain has been a burden on us since the day it happened,” he said. “My wife and I have been praying for that poor boy. I don’t want to see him face any jail time.”

    McConoughey’s attorney has filed a request that his case be moved to juvenile court.

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  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,717Member
    When will people (and kids) learn that guns are NOT toys, and stupid ass games like this get people killed.  I truly do not understand how this is such a difficult concept to grasp.
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • Katescrazymom
    Posts: 1,900Member
    What a sad stupid tragedy.
  • kmetz44kmetz44
    Posts: 2,569Member
    that was dumb
    Im pretty extraordinary in an ordinary way
  • tothemoonandbacktothemoonandback
    Posts: 2,284Member
    Ugh! @love you're killing my sensitive lil heart today! So tragic.
    Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. - Marilyn Monroe
  • Rosie08
    Posts: 494Member
    I have to commend the parents. What grace, insight, and compassion for the boy who killed him.
  • ToothfairyToothfairy
    Posts: 398Member
    I was thinking the same thing @Rosie08. I would like to think that I would be that forgiving right away, but I'm not sure I would. I also never want to find out. It's just so tragic for everyone, and that kid has to live with the fact that he killed his best friend. Ugh, so sad.
  • CrashCrash
    Posts: 8,532Member
    Something extremely similar happened here about 6 years ago to one of our teenage dishwashers. Went to a party and got shot in the back of the head. I don't know the whole story, but I do understand that the kid who did it, wasn't charged with a major crime, and the parents of the victim took it as a shitty accident. (I refuse to call it tragic. It's a stupid, fucked up accident that should never have happened.)
    See ya in another life, sister!
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,715Confessional Manager
    I don't even know what to say to this stuff anymore. =((

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • Rosie08
    Posts: 494Member
    @toothfairy, yes, I'd like to believe I would be that forgiving and gracious, but like you said, I hope to God I'm never put to that test.
  • ToothfairyToothfairy
    Posts: 398Member
    @Curious, I agree that it was a stupid, fucked up accident that should never have happened, but these are kids were talking about. Young teens do stupid shit sometimes, and sometimes boys aren't very mature at that age. I ,wholeheartedly, agree that it was soooooo stupid to hold a gun to another kids head and pull the trigger. Although, I think it's definitely tragic for the parents of those boys.
  • serenitynowserenitynow
    Posts: 2,178Member

    accident my ass. you bring a real gun, load it with bullets and point it someone's head. how the hell is that an accident? tragic for sure, but accidental i don't agree with. of course they didn't think anyone would die, but pointing a loaded gun at someone's head? no accident. maybe if they had pointed it at a wall and it ricocheted and then hit the kid in the head, but no. he actually pointed it at his head.

  • CrashCrash
    Posts: 8,532Member
    Oh believe me, if one of my kids ever dies in such an accident, tragic wouldn't be the word. 
    See ya in another life, sister!
  • ToothfairyToothfairy
    Posts: 398Member
    I was only expressing my sadness for this situation, and didn't expect a judgment on my choice of vocabulary. *sigh*
  • blkrosemommablkrosemomma
    Posts: 296Member
    Shouldn't give guns to monkeys... 
  • CrashCrash
    Posts: 8,532Member
    Don't worry, @Toothfairy. It's not your choice of words, it's society's choice of words. Tragedy is always the word used here. And so I reckon it's appropriate. But tragedy feels to me like something unavoidable, or inevitable. Stupidity like this is just that. :(
    See ya in another life, sister!
  • GingersnapGingersnap
    Posts: 7,713Member
    @curious - though you may *feel* the word tragedy has a connotation of destiny or fate, I don't and it's not in the descriptive definition. Tragedy is an apt word for this situation, meaning simply "a disastrous event". Actually, Greek tragedies (plays) center around disastrous events created by character's hubris and poor choices.

    Calamity is a pretty good word choice, too.

    *edit: as I'm trying desperately to fall back to sleep, I think, "Though, the Greeks did have a thing for prophecy and self-fulfilling prophecies."
    image
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