Boy Shot With Pellet Gun, Dies

[MA-Caver]

Waycross Boy Shot With Pellet Gun, Dies
Boys At Sleepover Did Not Immediately Admit To Shooting
POSTED: Monday, November 23, 2009
UPDATED: 6:31 pm EST November 23, 2009

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Family Photo Mitchell Maxwell Jr. was known to his family and friends as D.J.
WAYCROSS, Ga. -- A Waycross mother said her son was killed by what she thought was just a toy.Mitchell "D.J." Maxwell, 11, was shot with a .177-caliber pellet gun at the Albany Avenue home of his football coach. He was transported to Satilla Regional Medical Center, where he died.Felicia Thomas told Channel 4 her sixth-grade son was at a sleepover with two other boys at the coach's home when he was shot.Ware County Sheriff Randy Royal said the three boys were playing a PlayStation 3 video game when one of the boys picked up what he thought was an unloaded pellet rifle and pretended to shoot it, then handed it to a 12-year-old who apparently shot Maxwell in the chest from point-blank range.After trying to stop the bleeding themselves, the children notified two adults watching television in the next room that Maxwell was hurt, but did not immediately say he had been shot.Stacey Chavez, 35, called 911 while Thomas "Zach" Williams, 22, performed CPR until Ware County emergency medical services personnel arrived.
More here: http://www.news4jax.com/news/21698448/detail.html

That is what probably killed the boy was the others did not immediately say he was shot, they were all probably scared more of getting in trouble than the possible life threatening injury their friend sustained. Paramedics thought that he was suffering from an asthma attack and treated him as such. Had they known he was shot they'd certainly would have treated him differently. Such as it was when the boys tried to stop the initial bleeding the entry wound was probably small enough that it closed on itself and the bleeding stopped and the paramedics were unaware of the true nature of the problem.. until it was too late.
Very tragic end to such a young life.
Again, parents are responsible for the actions of their children and gun safety should've been empathized especially when children are given (what I call) tiny caliber weapons. A .177 caliber pellet gun is designed to pick off small vermin and at point blank can easily penetrate human tissue.

Even an airsoft gun can cause serious injury if shot in the eyes or other soft parts of the body at close range.

 

[Stac3y]

A few decades ago, I knew a guy who, as a child, accidentally killed his younger brother with a BB gun when the trigger caught on a barbed wire fence. Tragic.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Again, parents are responsible for the actions of their children and gun safety should've been empathized especially when children are given (what I call) tiny caliber weapons. A .177 caliber pellet gun is designed to pick off small vermin and at point blank can easily penetrate human tissue.

I know that in the film industry, whether it's a non-firing replica, a toy, or a working gun with blanks, all handguns are treated like the real thing. If people are going to let their children use pellet guns, they have to instruct them and supervise them as they would if they were handling an actual firearm. If learners then move on to the real thing, they've developed good habits for handling a weapon.

And I don't know anything much about handguns, but that would make sense to me.

 

[Big Don]

I was shot in the chest from about 20 feet when I was about 15. I dug the bb out with my swiss army knife

 

[jks9199]

I know that in the film industry, whether it's a non-firing replica, a toy, or a working gun with blanks, all handguns are treated like the real thing. If people are going to let their children use pellet guns, they have to instruct them and supervise them as they would if they were handling an actual firearm. If learners then move on to the real thing, they've developed good habits for handling a weapon.

And I don't know anything much about handguns, but that would make sense to me.

All firearms (and most replicas) should be treated as real guns, and assumed to be loaded at all times unless you have personally verified that it is empty at that moment.

I have a "blue gun" that I use for certain training. You CANNOT load it; it's solid plastic. Even that, I treat as if it were a real gun in most ways.

 

[grydth]

What "probably killed the boy" were:

1) Unsafe gun handling, lack of training, leaving any gun just laying around.

2) The shooters caring more about themselves than the victim.

The adults are just as guilty for fostering the selfish and stupid attitudes in their children that created this tragedy.

 

[MA-Caver]

2) The shooters caring more about themselves than the victim.

Agreed, and one can only imagine the amount of trouble they got into for NOT saying he got shot once the doctors & paramedics came out with the report. But yeah it was more of "don't tell them he got shot we'll get our asses whupped bad!" ... one hopes the got their asses whupped WORSE for keeping that crucial bit of info quiet. Just plain stupid and selfish.

The adults are just as guilty for fostering the selfish and stupid attitudes in their children that created this tragedy.

Absolutely... as callous and uncaring, insensitive as it sounds it was just that. I'm sad that a small young boy lost his life this way but I'm more angered at the ignorance that anything that shoots a projectile at high velocity is considered a "toy" just because there's no BANG or gunpowder involved.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

What "probably killed the boy" were:

1) Unsafe gun handling, lack of training, leaving any gun just laying around.

2) The shooters caring more about themselves than the victim.

The adults are just as guilty for fostering the selfish and stupid attitudes in their children that created this tragedy.

I'm afraid this must be quoted for truth.

 

[Gordon Nore]

I have a "blue gun" that I use for certain training. You CANNOT load it; it's solid plastic. Even that, I treat as if it were a real gun in most ways.

I have a little orange rubber trainer made by Pro Force for gun grabs. When I handle it in the dojo (and I'm not trained particularly with handguns), I treat it as I would my wooden tanto -- like it's the real thing.

How one practises dictates how one will perform spontaneously.