A Texas county commissioner is going through a imaginable criminal rate in Nebraska after accidentally shooting his 12-year-old grandson right through a wedding he was once officiating.
The shooting took place Saturday night at a wedding being held open air close to the small the city of Denton in southeastern Nebraska, when Michael Gardner, 62, of Odessa, Texas, pulled out a revolver, intending to fireplace a clean spherical into the air to sign the beginning of the rite. But as he was once cocking the gun’s hammer, it fired, hitting the boy slightly under his left shoulder.
“I really don’t know exactly what happened,” Gardner advised The Associated Press on Wednesday from Beatrice, Nebraska, the place he is been staying because the incident. “I’ve been around guns all my life, and I’ve never had anything like this happen.”
Gardner, an Ecto County Commissioner in Texas, mentioned he was once officiating the wedding of his nephew at an outside venue about 10 miles southwest of the capital town of Lincoln. Gardner mentioned he made the clean spherical himself, the use of an empty shell, some black gunpowder and scorching glue to carry it in combination. It was once the dried glue that hit the boy and brought about the damage, officers imagine. A news unlock from legislation enforcement mentioned Gardner fired the gun to get the eye of other folks attending the wedding, however Gardner mentioned that is a mischaracterization.
“The gun was scripted into the wedding,” Gardner defined. “The gun was fired to signal the music to start and for the bride to start her march down the aisle.”
The boy was once taken by way of ambulance to a Lincoln medical institution, then to Children’s Hospital in Omaha, the place he gained stitches and was once launched. He’s anticipated to completely get well.
Gardner mentioned he was once with the kid for it all.
“I never left his side,” Gardner mentioned. “There is nobody who feels worse about this than I do. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it.”
Gardner grew to become himself in Monday to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, which has advisable a rate of criminal kid abuse — a depend that carries a sentence of as much as 3 years in jail and is generally reserved for intentional abuse leading to damage. Gardner was once booked and posted a $1,000 bond to be launched from prison.
“Just another example that playing with firearms — no matter what, even if they’re blanks — bad things can certainly happen,” Chief Deputy Ben Houchin mentioned following Gardner’s arrest. “We do not believe Michael intended to hurt his grandchild, but the act was not very smart.”
In another unusual move, prosecutors have not charged Gardner with a crime. A hearing was held Tuesday in which prosecutors said they will decide by a scheduled Nov. 3 arraignment what charges — if any — will be filed against Gardner.
Lancaster County Chief Deputy Attorney Chris Turner acknowledged that Tuesday’s anticipatory arraignment hearing was a departure from the norm, noting that a follow-up arraignment is usually held a day or two after such a hearing.
“We’re still investigating,” Turner said Wednesday when asked why no charges had been filed.
Gardner recognized that a felony charge could mean the end of his political career. Gardner is three years into his first term as Ecto County Commissioner and has plans to seek reelection next year. Those with felony convictions are ineligible to hold the office, he said.
“Politically, whatever happens, happens,” he mentioned. “And I’ll live with that. I would never make excuses for what happened. The responsibility lies with me.”
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