Thursday, March 11, 2004

Grown ups: do not play with guns!

BBC NEWS: Man killed in Masonic gun ritual
An initiation ceremony at a Masonic Lodge in New York has ended in tragedy after a man was killed during a ritual for new members.
William James was accidentally shot in the head when a lodge member used a real gun instead of a blank pistol by mistake.
[snip]
Cans were placed on a small platform around his head.

When the gun was fired another member was supposed to knock the cans off as if they had been hit by bullets.

The aim was to frighten their new recruit.

But Albert Eid, a long-serving freemason, had two guns in his pocket, one with blanks and one with real bullets.

He apparently pulled the wrong one, killing Mr James.