A Texas county commissioner will spend one year on probation for accidentally shooting his grandson during a Nebraska wedding he was officiating.

Michael Gardner, 63, of Odessa, Texas, was sentenced Monday for misdemeanor child abuse in the September 2023 shooting. His grandson, then 12, survived the shoulder wound.

“It’s something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life,” said Gardner, who was recently reelected as a county commissioner in Ector County in Texas.

The shooting happened when Gardner pulled out a revolver, intending to fire a blank round into the air to signal the start of the outdoor ceremony near the small town of Denton in southeastern Nebraska. But as he was cocking the gun’s hammer, it fired, hitting the now 13-year-old boy.

  • skozzii
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    7 days ago

    This totally happens in other countries too…

    • girlfreddyOP
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      7 days ago

      Not really tho. It’s rare to hear of accidental shootings in Canada.

    • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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      6 days ago

      It doesn’t. It really really doesn’t.

      It might have happened, once, in maybe Congo, in the 70’s, or whatever.

      Stop worshipping guns. Simple.

      • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        I mean if we wanna talk specifically about shooting people at weddings, the middle east would like a word.