Posted on 06/19/2002 10:45:33 AM PDT by chance33_98
Dad shoots son, 47, with Father's Day gift
By Bill Toland, Times Staff 06/18/2002
CORAOPOLIS - Two days after a Coraopolis father accidentally shot his son with the handgun he'd just received as a Father's Day gift, the son remains in serious condition in a Pittsburgh hospital.
Robert Kleindienst, 47, was injured around 5 p.m. Sunday when the gun he'd given to his father discharged as it was being removed from its packaging. The accident happened in the Kleindiensts' home along Fleming Street in Coraopolis, police said.
"Apparently, the son was having difficulty getting the gun out of the plastic case," said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Ken Fulton. "The father tried to help his son get the gun out of the case, and when he pulled on the gun, it fired."
The father apparently had no idea that the gun was loaded, police said.
The younger Kleindienst was shot once in the side, and the bullet ended up in his shoulder. Kleindienst was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where as of Monday evening remained in serious condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Richard Kleindienst, the father, declined to comment when contacted at home.
A woman who answered the phone at the home also had no comment.
Meanwhile, Allegheny County police believe that the handgun was loaded a week prior to the Sunday accident, perhaps right after it was purchased.
When the gun was returned to its packaging, Robert Kleindienst forgot to unload it, and it was still loaded when he gave it to his father, police said. The gun was a .22-caliber Ruger revolver.
Allegheny County police are calling the shooting an accident and don't plan on filing any charges, Fulton said.
Bill Toland can be reached online at btoland@timesonline.com.
So technically, he shot himself.
#1. Always treat a firearm as if it were loaded.
#2. Never point a firearm at anything you do not intend to destroy.
#3. Never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Those are the big three. Follow them and you'll always be ok, even if you so happen to have an accidental or negligent discharge.
Dumbasses.
Exactly. I don't believe the story. This is a hoax, I bet.
Blowing-Mountain-Dew-through-my-sinuses BUMP!
Then I wrap it.
It's a big country, with a lot of room for idiots. Over a long enough time, something like this was bound to happen somewhere to somebody. In short, probably not a hoax, just natural selection and a large sample population in action.
Ruger makes a double action .22 revolver.
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