But I can see it happening. While I wasn't pointing at anything animate, it almost happened to me. Unloading guns from the car after hunting. Picked up Dad's shotgun, shouldered it and pointed at the loft in garage. Thought better of pulling the trigger, but only just. Their was a round of #5s in the chamber. Another time I put a .22 round through my cousin's upstairs window screen. Fortunately they lived in the country and I don't think I hit the weather vane on the barn that I was aiming at.
They lived only a couple of miles from my brother's house. If they shot skeet and trap as the stories indicate, they may have known my nephew, who shoots trap and works at the closest range. They were only 2-3 years older than he is, and nearly the same age as my niece. But maybe not, they only moved to Lincoln in November, and it hasn't exactly been trap shooting weather up here since then, and since they hadn't gone to school in the area, they probably did not know each other, unless through someone's work. One of my niece's jobs is very near where they lived.
She passed away in the same hospital that my grandmother did. You may have seen it, it was used for filming of parts of Terms of Endearment.
First time was with a small .22 rifle ~ Winchester single shot. The round was "extra long rifle". I figure the clearances were a bit tight.
The other time was an M60 machinegun ~ as I recall this was right at the beginning of orientation where you're ready on the line and they have you place one round in the receiver just to see what happens ~ and it happened.
This time I figure it was a worn mechanism.
After firing thousands of rounds over the years never had that happen again.
So, yeah, you can have a round just go off ~ and that's because it's a probability game ~ if the technology allows for misfires, they will happen whether you are there or not.