Two Wichita accidental shootings include person hurt with gun kept under pillow
A pair of overnight shootings in Wichita turned out to be accidental, the police chief said Monday on Twitter and Facebook.
In one case, a person inadvertently “shot their significant other in the hand with a gun kept under a pillow in bed,” Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay wrote in posts on the social media platforms.
In the other, a person “accidentally shot themself in the leg,” he said.
The victims in both cases received minor injuries.
“Accidental shootings are occurring too often and are entirely preventable. They also take valuable police resources to thoroughly investigate,” Ramsay wrote on Facebook.
Accidental shootings have been top of mind at the department lately.
Last week, Ramsay helped launch a new public safety initiative with Wesley Medical Center aimed at raising awareness of shootings involving children as the hospital has seen cases increase more than three-fold this year compared to average years. Of the 14 pediatric patients under age 16 treated for gunshot wounds at Wesley this year, all but one were accidental or self-inflicted.
“Our goal is to continue to educate,” Wichita police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson said Monday by phone.
It’s unclear exactly how many accidental shootings the city has actually had overall so far in 2020. Many unintentional discharges either aren’t reported accurately or at all to police due to embarrassment or fear of criminal repercussions.
Davidson said the department has classified 26 reports as accidental firearms cases this year, up from 17 in 2019. The classification is used if a person is injured or killed as a result of an accidental gun discharge, he said.
At least one Wichita death this year is attributable to an accidental shooting. In September, a 9-year-old inadvertently shot 18-year-old Jeremy Retana in the head after the child’s father left a loaded gun unattended while they were in the care of a babysitter.
There was also one in 2019: 9-year-old Roy’Ale Spencer was killed by an 11-year-old who was playing with a gun retrieved from a safe with a malfunctioning lock on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 458 unintentional firearms deaths nationwide in 2018, the most recent data available. Across the country, there were an estimated 18,921 non-fatal emergency department visits for unintentional firearms injuries that year, according to the CDC.
“Everyone should familiarize themselves with gun safety prior to touching a firearm,” Ramsay wrote Monday on Facebook.
Ramsay linked to a gun safety tip sheet posted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which offers 10 suggestions for minimizing the chance of missteps during weapons handling:
- Never point a gun at something you don’t intend to shoot
- Keep guns unloaded when not in use
- Don’t rely on a gun’s safety mechanism alone
- Know what’s behind and around your target
- Use the right ammunition
- Be careful handling your gun following a misfire
- Wear eye and ear protection when shooting
- Make sure the barrel is clear before firing
- Routinely service guns but don’t alter or modify them
- Learn individual firearms’ mechanics and handling instructions before using
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 2:28 PM.
