Gun goes off; bullet ends up in neighbor's refrigerator
A bullet from an Ypsilanti man's handgun that accidentally went off in his apartment ended up in a neighbor's kitchen appliance Tuesday.
A woman told Ypsilanti police that a bullet came through the wall of her apartment in the 200 bock of Pearl Street and into her refrigerator at 11:48 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police media summary.
"No one was hit," said Ypsilanti police Sgt. Thomas Eberts.
When police spoke with the man in the adjacent apartment, he said he was about to clean his handgun when it went off.
Eberts said the man was not intoxicated, and the gun was properly registered. The man could face a possible violation of a city ordinance. The ordinance, Sec. 74-131, states that "no person shall discharge any weapon within the city, except in connection with a regularly scheduled educational, recreational or training program under adequate supervision."
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Honest Abe
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:13 p.m.
Let's just be grateful our ridiculous government has not taken guns away from people. I know they will NEVER get mine. Let's protect out 2nd Amendment.
Veracity
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:56 p.m.
Proper gun usage dictates that the weapon be loaded only at the firing range or hunting area and that the gun be empty when leaving these places. The only way that an empty gun can hurt anyone is if it used like a bludgeon.
OLDTIMER3
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
Do you tell your attacker ,wait a minute while I load my weapon.
zigziggityzoo
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:03 p.m.
who says that? You? Proper gun usage in my book is that every gun is treated like it's loaded, whether it's loaded or not.
snapshot
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 4:26 a.m.
What about in self defense? and this ordinance relates to "willful" discharge, not accidental. It's still a problem but then so is "no fault" auto insurance and cell phone use while driving.
Davidian
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 11:57 p.m.
Headline and article is tantamount to 'car starts itself, drives down the street, turns corners, and crashes into house.' Of course everyone knows that's impossible, but thanks to articles like this, people still believe guns miraculously 'go off' when they are really inanimate objects. Very poor, ignorant, biased, or inflammatory reporting; take your pick.
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 5:54 p.m.
ziggety Case in point. You are bird hunting with a single shot 12 ga with a hammer. A bird flushes, you pull the hammer back as you swing, the barrel hits a tree you drop the gun. Are you telling me this gun that was made in 2010 can not go off?
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 5:51 p.m.
Ziggetyzoo Come back after you have had some experience in the real world!
zigziggityzoo
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 1:02 p.m.
jcj Most guns ( yes, I qualified that with most) cannot go off when dropped. Only guns designed prior to the early 1900s, or guns using unsafe and inferior designs (generally of inexpensive foreign origin) would "go off" when dropped on the ground.
snapshot
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 4:23 a.m.
jcj....yes
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:45 a.m.
Can you accidentally drop a gun? Can the gun go off when dropped?
YpsiVeteran
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:43 p.m.
The headline is inaccurate and inflammatory. Guns do not "go off," accidentally or otherwise. They have to be fired by somebody.
snapshot
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 4:22 a.m.
Wrong.
justcurious
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:06 p.m.
He and his neighbor are very lucky that the neighbor wasn't in the line of fire. Maybe a gun safety course is in order for this person.
Bcar
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:14 p.m.
Annarbor.com Please re-title and edit this article. Guns don't "just go off." This was a NEGLIGENT discharge of a firearm, not an accidental one. There is a BIG difference.
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 5:49 p.m.
Ziggetyzoo I am in no way excusing this mans carelessness. I would use a stronger word but would probably get deleted! But IF someone drops a loaded gun it can go off without "pulling "the trigger. I have been handling and shooting guns since I was 9 years old. I did not gain my knowledge from watching TV!
Sandra Samons
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 2:45 p.m.
And, starting to clean a gun w/o checking to see if it is loaded? This person should not even have a gun. Next, he'll be looking down the muzzle to see if there's anything in there!
zigziggityzoo
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:59 p.m.
jcj - Guns cannot "go off" spontaneously. Something has to pull the trigger. And sure, you can "accidentally" pull the trigger, but that's negligence or carelessness by definition.
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:44 a.m.
Please explain the BIG difference!
Mitch
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 6:04 p.m.
Somebody needs a safety class.
Milton Shift
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 5:30 p.m.
Going after someone for accidentally violating a city ordinance - what have we come to?
jcj
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 3:43 a.m.
If someone "accidentally" runs into another car do you, "go after him or say do better next time? If someones dog "accidentally" gets lose and bites someone, do you "go after him or say don't let it happen again? You absolutely go after the careless weapon owner!
Ron Granger
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:35 p.m.
Is your refrigerator running? Why is it running if it didn't commit a crime?
pseudo
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:33 p.m.
Amazingly stupid behavior/poor judgement is the biggest threat to the Second Amendment in my view. Please tell me this is the the same "gun owner" that had his weapon taken away from him(only to be returned to him by a bystander) as previously report in this blog. Or are there two gun carriers in that area that are so incredibly inept as to be a danger to the rest of the community?
Mike
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 8:38 p.m.
Billy Bob - I have a problem with free and easy access to automobiles. There are more people killed by them accidentally than guns..........
zigziggityzoo
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 12:58 p.m.
Billy Bob - even though there are as many cars as there are guns in this nation, cars kill more than 3x the amount of people guns do. So I'm not sure where your example is going.
Billy Bob Schwartz
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 8:21 p.m.
pseudo...Consider the likelihood of a stupid person driving a car or riding a bike or walking across a street. Pretty high percentage, or at least a dangerous percentage. This is my major problem with the free and easy access to firearms: there are lots of real dopes out there and I don't want them shooting me.
tdw
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:27 p.m.
Oooops
Billy Bob Schwartz
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 4:17 p.m.
Hey, I'm gonna have to get ME one o' them dealies! Wow!