Osage Beach police believe there was an "accidental discharge" of a firearm in Walmart Tuesday evening. According to a spokeswoman, the Walmart corporate office is working alongside Osage Beach police to further review surveillance footage and there is no cause for alarm.
At around 1 p.m. Monday, an unidentified man was going through the men's clothing department at Walmart when he decided to reach for a handkerchief in his pocket. When he did, a gun in that pocket went off and the bullet cut through his leg.
The man was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center to be treated for his injury.
No charges will be brought as authorities with the Athens Police Department deemed the shooting accidental. Also, the man was carrying the weapon legally.
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| Scene of fatal shooting at Hayden Walmart (source) |
Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said. Rutledge was from Blackfoot in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the area to visit relatives.
She had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into his mother's purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which discharged one time.
Deputies who responded to the Wal-Mart found Rutledge dead, the sheriff's office said.
"It appears to be a pretty tragic accident," Miller said.
The victim's father-in-law, Terry Rutledge, told The Associated Press that Veronica Rutledge "was a beautiful, young, loving mother."
"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said. "She was taken much too soon."
The woman's husband was not in the store when the shooting happened at about 10:20 a.m. Miller said the man arrived shortly after the shooting. All the children were taken to a relative's house.
The shooting occurred in the Wal-Mart in Hayden, Idaho, a town about 40 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. The store closed and was not expected to reopen until Wednesday morning.
Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said in a statement the shooting was a "very sad and tragic accident."It is very sad and tragic, and unintentional, but it wasn't an "accident" as I define it since it was completely avoidable. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here. The gun wasn't secured. It was around children. It was loaded. And Walmart didn't have to allow the carrying of guns in their stores. All of these factors increase the risk.
Terry Rutledge, Veronica's father-in-law, told The Spokesman-Review that the boy unzipped the special gun compartment in the woman's purse where the weapon was kept while she was looking at clothing.
Terry Rutledge said his 29-year-old daughter-in-law did not put the weapon "loosely into her purse."
Victoria Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, and guns were a big part of Rutledge's life, her father-in-law said. ....
Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.
About 7 percent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.
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| Scene of accidental shooting at Norfolk Walmart (screenshot source) |
Police are investigating a shooting at a Norfolk Walmart Saturday afternoon.
It happened around 2:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the store on Tidewater Drive, according to authorities. Police have not said exactly what happened, but sources tell 10 On Your Side the man accidentally shot himself while driving.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
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| Scene of shooting at Sioux Falls Walmart parking lot (source) |
Officers were dispatched to 301 S. Sycamore Avenue in response to a gunshot wound. Upon arrival, officers made contact with a juvenile male who told them he had just been shot in the leg at Walmart on 5521 E. Arrowhead Pkwy.
The juvenile was transported to Avera Hospital and was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Police blocked off a large portion of the east side Walmart parking lot for several hours Saturday evening to investigate.According to another article, the teen had been waiting in a car while his mother was shopping in Walmart and had access to an unlocked, loaded, .22 handgun. Handling the gun, he unintentionally shot himself, though he had initially told police and his mother that the shooting had been the result of a robbery.
Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde was at the store at about 8 p.m. Saturday night when he heard a gunshot. Rohde told The Republic that 56-year-old Tony E. Ward of Columbus had been carrying a .22 pistol in a holster on his waistband. The gun fell from his waist and discharged.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
The bullet went through a soda bottle in a cart and struck the right arm of 26-year-old Virginia Thompson, who was pushing her newborn baby when the gun went off. The bullet hit the outside of Thompson's arm and after treatment by paramedics she declined to be taken to the hospital.
Rohde told the paper that Ward had a permit for the handgun and Ward was not arrested.
Kenneth D. Pirtle, 65, Dale, told police he was carrying the .40 caliber handgun in his front pocket and it had discharged when he reached into the pocket to retrieve something. The bullet exited Pirtle’s pant leg and struck the vinyl/concrete floor in the store causing it to ricochet up and become lodged in a wall.
No one was struck by the round.
Pirtle suffered minor injuries to his leg from the discharge but refused medical treatment. He was charged with criminal recklessness with a firearm.
According to police, Pirtle had other items in his pocket that may have played a factor in the handgun accidentally discharging.
A Walmart employee hid a gun under his sweatshirt, brought it into the store and showed it to another employee who accidentally shot himself in the hand, police say.
Carlisle Police say Julian T. Picard, 22, does not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and has been charged with carrying without a license and disorderly conduct. Police say Picard showed the other employee the gun in loading dock area. That employee has received treatment and is doing fine.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
A Cascilla man accidentally shot himself in the leg while sitting in his vehicle in the Walmart parking lot Friday, according to Grenada police.
According to Capt. George Douglas with the Grenada Police Department, a man he identified as Steven Kendall, 29, accidentally discharged a .40 caliber handgun and injured himself around 10 a.m.
“According to an eyewitness, a man heard one shot and went over to the vehicle to check on Kendall,” said Douglas.
The witness called 911, and an ambulance arrived and transported Kendall to the University of Mississippi Medical Center-Grenada.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
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| Scene of accidental shooting in Phoenix Walmart (source) |
Police said a man accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a Wal-Mart store in Phoenix on Saturday.
Phoenix police spokesman Officer James Holmes said the man had a gun on his hip and it went off. ...
Holmes said the man's injuries were not life-threatening.
According to police, 50-year-old David Kugel was removing his handgun to store in his vehicle in the parking lot of Sam’s Club, 210 E. Tower Park Drive, at about 6 p.m. when he weapon fired. The bullet struck Kugel in the buttocks, causing a minor wound, according to the police report.
Kugel then drove home, where a family member persuaded him to seek medical attention. He was treated at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo.
Capt. Tim Pillack said Kugel had the proper permit to carrying the weapon.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
On Friday around 10:10 p.m., officers responded to Walmart, located at 4893 Lone Tree Way, for a man who had been shot, said Antioch Sgt. Tom Fuhrmann.
The 27-year-old man told police he was walking with a relative when he heard a shot and felt pain in his leg. The man, who has not been identified, said at that time he had no idea who shot him.
The man was treated at an area hospital and he was later released. Investigators found that evidence at the scene did not support the victim's statement to officers, Fuhrmann said; he did not elaborate.
In a follow-up interview, the man revealed he had a gun when it accidentally went off and he shot himself in the leg.The article didn't say if he had a permit to carry the gun.
Officers said Christopher William Strube, of Centerville, was shopping Sunday afternoon when the .45-caliber handgun fired from his pants pocket.
Investigators said the 50-year-old Strube told them a bottle he was carrying struck the weapon and caused it to fire one round.
Police said Strube told them he paid for his items and left the store.
Store employees and other shoppers reported the gunshot, and police said they smelled gunpowder and found a bullet hole in a basket and several cans of beans.
They also found a .45-caliber bullet in one of the cans of beans.
Strube, who has a valid concealed carry permit, was arrested the following morning and charged with discharging a weapon within city limits.Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
Robert Duncan, 48, and Helen Duncan were booked on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm, Glendora police Sgt. Michael Henderson said. There city of residence was not immediately available.
The incident took place shortly before 1:30 p.m. just inside the entrance of the store, 1501 S. Lone Hill Ave., he said.
The man and woman were passing a bag between them which contained the gun, Henderson said. They dropped the bag, causing the gun inside to fire.
Henderson said Robert Duncan was struck in the forearm by the bullet. No one else was injured.
Officers found the man and women at San Dimas Community Hospital. He was treated for his injury and released from the hospital the same day.
In addition to negligently discharging a gun, the husband was also expected to face a charge of illegal weapon possession, Henderson said.
Helen Marie Duncan, 50, was allegedly carrying a handgun inside her fanny pack when she dropped the pack and the gun discharged.
According to Public Information Officer Drew Latch, police responded to a call in the Arkansas Walmart parking lot at 11:04 a.m. on Saturday. When officers arrived, they found a man, identified as Monty Wheeler, who had been shot in the back.
Upon further investigation, officers determined that the man had actually been shot by his child, age unknown, who attempted to enter his father’s truck by scaling up the driver’s side. The child accidentally grabbed hold of an unsecured and loaded shotgun, which discharged and struck his father in the back.
Wheeler was transported to a local hospital and is said to be in stable condition.Remember, every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.
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| Scene of shooting at Antioch Walmart (source) |
A 21-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the leg at the Walmart in Antioch Wednesday.
Police, who would not identify the man, said he suffered a minor leg injury just after 4 p.m. and was later sent to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment.
The man had a valid Tennessee handgun carry permit and was carrying a .40 caliber pistol in his waistband. He felt the gun slipping as he neared a Walmart checkout line with a gallon of milk in hand. When he reached for the unholstered firearm, the gun discharged a single round into his left leg, police said.
The victim then walked to a chair and sat down while an employee took the gun.
No charges are expected to be filed in the case because no one else was hurt.Walmart permits concealed handguns in its stores. Conceal carry permit holders have so far been responsible for at least 14 incidents in Walmart stores. Not once has one conceal carry holder, outside of security or law enforcement, used their weapon in a defensive manner at a Walmart store.
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| Scene of shooting at Williston Walmart |
The Williston Police Department reported a 9-1-1 call came in at 2:27 a.m. reporting shots fired in the parking lot at Walmart.
When officers arrived on the scene, they located a female inside the gas station at Lonnie’s Roadhouse Cafe with a gunshot wound to her thigh. She was transported to Mercy Medical Center by ambulance to receive medical treatment.
The police have not released her identity or the extent of her injuries.(a related news article)
Court records say Williston police responded early Friday to a report that a woman had been shot in the Walmart area. Officers located Simon in the bathroom of Lonnie’s, a café near Walmart, and Simon told an officer she had been shot by one male in a group of three males.
However, the officer found a pistol in Simon’s purse and Simon then said the shooting could have been an accident but she didn’t remember how it happened, court records state. Court records accuse Simon of shooting herself in both legs while she was within one foot of at least one other individual.
Officers also observed a spoon with white residue consistent with methamphetamine inside the purse, as well as bras with Walmart price tags still attached. Simon also is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C felony..
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| Scene of unintentional shooting at State College Walmart |
According to Petrick, the 45-year-old victim was walking through the Walmart parking lot when a passing driver waved him across the road, "He jogged across the traffic way, the gun fell out of his holster, he picks it up and it discharges," says Petrick.
"He had several bags in his hand and was rushing to pick up the gun and got tangled up."
The gunshot, fired from a .40 caliber Glock, struck the man in his right hand.
He was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for treatment. There's no word on the extent of his injuries.
Petrick says no one else was hurt and, "The bullet fell right there on the asphalt."
The victim has a valid firearm carry permit. No charges will be filed.
No one was injured Saturday night at the Wal-Mart on Apple Glen Boulevard when a customer’s gun fell out of the holster and discharged, police said.
City police responded to a call about shots fired at Wal-Mart, 1710 Apple Glen Boulevard, at about 5 p.m., Fort Wayne police spokesman Chris Felton said.
When officers arrived, witnesses said that a customer carrying a handgun had accidentally dropped it, causing it to fire one shot inside the store, police said.
No one was arrested, Felton said.Walmart allows conceal carry in every store, as long as the gun owner is allowed by law to carry in public.
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| Scene of shooting at Moraine Walmart |
It happened around 3:00 pm Tuesday in the Walmart parking lot on Dorothy Lane in Moraine.
Police say the man, who has a concealed carry permit, was trying to holster his weapon when it went off.
"It's very uncommon," said Moraine Police Sgt. Russ Imler, "This is the first time I've responded to an incident like this involving a CCW permit holder. I believe that he was looking for a parking space and holstering his weapon, doing too many things at once.
He was taken to the hospital, but is expected to be okay.
The man, whose name and age were not released, told police he was moving his gun from the glox box in his truck to the gun’s holster when it discharged. He drove up to the store’s entrance closest to the pharmacy, went inside and asked for assistance.
Medics were called to Walmart just after 3 p.m. on a report of someone who had been shot showing up at the big box store.
His injury is not life threatening, Moraine Sgt. Russ Imler said. The man was taken to Kettering Medical Center.