Child shot inside gun shop

WBNS 10 TV Columbus Ohio ^ | Mar 9th 2004 | Roger McCoy

[kAcknor]

Authorities say a weapon discharged inside a store while an employee was showing it to a customer, with the bullet hitting a child standing nearby.

It happened at Woodbury Outfitters at approximately 1:55 p.m. Monday afternoon. The Coshocton County sheriff's office received a 911 call reporting it.

Eyewitnesses say the bullet richocheted off the floor and struck a 2-year-old child in the leg. The child was taken to a local hospital and then flown to Columbus Children's Hospital by a MedFlight helicopter.

Two-year-old Ryan Gildow remained hospitalized Monday night following surgery. He was listed in fair condition after the bullet was removed.

The owner of Woodbury's, Joe Miller, opened the sportsman's store about 18 months ago.

"Our policy is obviously no loaded guns inside the store," Miller told 10TV.

Miller says a store employee was showing a Walther PPK 380 handgun to a customer. According to investigators, for one reason or another, the employee put a bullet into the gun's chamber.

"He went to eject the round by racking the slide, at which time the fire arm discharged," Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers said.

The .380 caliber bullet ricocheted off the floor and struck Gildow, who was standing with his father on the other side of the store. Miller, still in anguish over what happened by the hand of one of his own employees, explained what happened next.

"The second it happened, we dialed 9-1-1. They responded very quickly, thank God."

Gildow was rushed to a Coshocton hospital, and then transported by MedFlight to Children's Hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet.

The store employee was questioned by sheriff's deputies. Monday night, investigators said it appeared to be a tragic accident.

"Shouldn't have ever have happened. Then you compound that being a two-year-old boy, it just is extemely tragic," Sheriff Rogers said.

The employee who fired the shot that wounded Ryan was said to be feeling terrible about the accident. It is up to the Coshocton County prosecutor to decide if this accident will lead to any charges.

[kAcknor]

My grandfather taught me gun safety when I was 8 years old.

I got the same training almost verbatim from my father at the same age.

[Dead Corpse]

Actually, he DID have it pointed in what he just assumed was a safe direction. The bullet richocheted off the floor.

Was he a dumba$$? Yes. Should he have used a snapcap or dummy round instead of a LIVE round? You betcha.

Fine him. Make him pay the kids medical expenses. Possibly a couple weeks in jail, but it WAS an accident. In todays letigious society, I predict that the employee, the gun store, the manufacturer of the ammo and the firearm both, and possibly a couple others, will get lawsuits filed against them.

[Porterville]

Where was the SUV? Did an SUV use a gun??

[Sloth]

Boy, multiple failures here. 1.) having it loaded in the first place, 2.) obviously not being aware of where it was pointed, and 3.) pulling the trigger.

The employee should do jail time.

[kAcknor]

The employee should do jail time.

Of the three item you suggest only the first is proven. He loaded the weapon.

Otherwise, he did have it pointed to the floor, and the act of pulling the trigger, while likely, is only suggested, not proven.

I call it negligence, but I agree with Dead Corpse (post 82): Fine him. Make him pay the kids medical expenses. Possibly a couple weeks in jail... I'll also say again that he should pay any other economic damage caused to the parents or the shop owner.