Posted on 07/22/2013 7:17:51 PM PDT by deks
Police now believe a bullet that killed a 7-year-old Chesterfield County boy was fired randomly somewhere within a 5,000-foot radius from the spot where the child was fatally struck while walking with his father July 4.
Ballistics and federal firearms experts consulted by Chesterfield police believe the .40-caliber-class bullet was likely fired at a 55- to 70- degree angle and, based on that trajectory, the round likely traveled a maximum distance of about 5,000 feet, or just less than a mile, Chesterfield Capt. Chris Hensley said during a news briefing Monday.
Hensley said the bullet that killed Brendon Mackey came almost straight down. He was struck in the head as he walked to The Boathouse at Sunday Park on the Swift Creek Reservoir. ...
Chesterfield police, assisted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have begun canvassing neighborhoods within the maximum estimated range of the bullet’s trajectory in an attempt to find the person responsible. ...
Hensley said police began canvassing neighborhoods Friday in the Brandermill area and covered 300 to 400 homes so far, or about 10 to 15 percent of the targeted area. ...
“So this is going to take time,” the captain said. “People need to know over the next several weeks, that if they have a police officer or detective knocking on their door, it’s going to be in relation to this case.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
He collapsed to the ground after being struck in the head by a bullet and was taken to a hospital where he died on July 5th.
So called "celebratory gunfire" or any negligent gunfire up into the air can be fatal.
Especy when fired at a ballistic trajectory. Anyone who does that is utterly stupid or has a depraved disregard for others.
Wait, I'm confused, I thought we were all supposed to do that shooting at drones?
The Latino population in San Antonio just can’t celebrate without firing bullets into the air. Children have been killed, but that doesn’t convince them that the bullets do come down.
“So called “celebratory gunfire” or any negligent gunfire up into the air can be fatal.”
We need to give Jihadists more reason to celebrate.
Tragic.
But any one who hadn’t disposed of the weapon by now would be incredibly stupid- or remorseful.
I’m not sure this bullet would go that far.
The poor kid is dead. It’s a real shame.
Commons sense is very uncommon.
Biden says its ok to shoot into the air, but maybe some people didn’t get the “shotgun” part.
From reading the comments, it appears that discharging a firearm is perfectly legal in Chesterfield County if it is done so for a Patrotic Display.
It was Independence Day.
it doesn't kill somebody
I didn’t read the comments, but I’m surprised that someone would think that it’s legal.
I believe local governments in Virginia are allowed to regulate the discharge of firearms. The state code has this. . .
18.2-280 Willfully discharging firearms in public places.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-280
Thank you Delta 21. Looks like I was wrong there huh.
LOL Oops.
This is a difficult, sad thing. Imagine a group of 20 people, all shooting guns into the air. The next day, you learn some child was killed by a bullet. Which of you should go to prison for the next 20 years for manslaughter?
Shouldn’t all of you go to prison? After all, it is sheer luck which if any of you shot the actual bullet that killed the boy. It’s like a firing squad. All of you committed the same crime. But the police were not even coming AFTER you, until someone was dead. And now they are looking for the single person whose actual bullet killed the boy.
And that one person, of the thousands of people around the country, will go to prison.
On the one hand, I’d rather have everybody punished equally for the same action. On the other hand, if you shoot a gun in the air and it doesn’t do any damage, you haven’t hurt anyone — so why would we put you in jail.
But that argument suggests that nobody should go to jail. It was just dumb luck. A kid is dead, and that is sad. But if we really want to stop that, we should actually round up everybody who does this next year, and throw them in jail. So I go in circles.
In the end, someone either is going to live in silent guilt, or else someone is going to prison for a long time for dumb luck.
“Hensley said the bullet that killed Brendon Mackey came almost straight down.
This is much different from the initial report, which said it came in at a 15-20 degree angle. If it came straight down, it must have been fired from relatively close by.
Maximum EFFECTIVE range (that you can hit what you aim at) for a .40 cal is probly not much over 100yards, but modern ammunition will travel much further and still have the energy to kill.
Yes, I realize that if a bullet can get there, it has the potential to be lethal.
I don’t believe in shooting your weapon in any direction where there may be people down range.
I am a fanatic about NOT pointing my weapon across any plane that intersects a living being.
If I am walking with my weapon, I do so with the safety on, the barrel aimed at the ground, and my hand cupping the trigger guard.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been out shooting, or around people with guns, where they wave that thing around like it’s cotton candy.
If someone does that to me, I leave.
I once had someone call me on walking around with a magazine still in the mechanism, even though I had the gun pointed at the ground and was walking with my hand over the trigger guard.
Only moments before I had a guy take his rifle and move left to right across my torso without so much as evidencing he knew what he had done.
I grew up on a farm. In that climate you can walk through a lot of bushes. That’s why I keep my hand over the trigger guard.
My gun is always considered loaded. It’s always considered to have the safety off.
I wish others always played by those rules.
What is the trajectory used to determine these distances?
I would assume 45 degrees as that would provide the maximum distance between shooter and landing zone.
Its specific to bullet weight and powder charge , and a ton of variables. They are saying 55-70 degree angle which is still gonna put a lot of potential into the equation.
From looking on the map at the link my first suspicion was “it had to come from across the river”. Folks on the other side celebrating, shooting off over the water probly (or not even) thinking its safe.
Our ancestors were a lot smarter than we are about this. I have read several articles about the past that mention the shooting of “blanks” from firearms during celebrations. Most of the blanks I see on gunshow tables are very old. I cannot remember when I saw any new ones.
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