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Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

1 by TrueTexan
A man died at a Fort Worth shooting range Dec. 30 when his firearm malfunctioned, police said.

Officers were dispatched to Shoot Smart at 10305 North Freeway around 8:50 p.m. They found a man with a gunshot wound to the head. He was treated by medical personnel but died at the scene, according to police.

Witnesses told officers that the victim’s firearm had malfunctioned. He was attempting to clear it when the weapon discharged, and the bullet struck him in the forehead, police said.

The Homicide Unit will investigate the shooting, according to police, but no foul play is suspected. The victim has not been publicly identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

“The Shoot Smart team sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the person who passed away at the Shoot Smart Alliance location,” the company said in a statement. “The safety of our patrons and staff is paramount.”

Shoot Smart personnel are cooperating with law enforcement agencies in the ongoing investigation, according to the statement.
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/loca ... 97723.html

Unfortunately he broke one of the cardinal rules when shooting on a gun range that I was taught as a Boy Scout shooting on a military gun range. All loaded weapons must be pointed down range at all times. If there is a malfunction the gun remains pointed down range until the weapon is unloaded and cleared. Had the same rules taught to us in high school JrROTC when I was on the rifle team and again when we were doing qualifications for marksmanship of all the cadets.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

5 by CDFingers
tailgunner wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2025 11:44 am Glad I wasn't next to that guy. If someone next to me has a jam I will go to the back of the line and wait. Maybe he looked down the barrel.
Maybe we could design a clear bullet proof box where you can get both hands into with the gun to try and unjam it in case it goes off.
That is a stellar idea. Business opportunity.

CDF
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eye Jack

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

6 by Bisbee
I agree. In hardly any of the indoor ranges I’ve visited have I ever felt the lane dividers were meant as more than visual separators, hardly designed to stop a projectile in an ND. In fact it may be even more dangerous when we cannot see that some newbie in the next lane is having a malfunction with his firearm so that we can step clear of potential danger. Those plastic lane dividers act as a false sense of security in shooting ranges.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

7 by SunRiseWest
As someone who goes to the range maybe five times a year, it's amazing how much psychological resistance there is to raising your hand and calling the range officer over to help clear a jam. Happened to me six months ago with my Mark III -- which I can, actually, take apart and put back together again, though I've only done it twice. It just had some weird-ass jam that I hadn't experienced before, I can't even remember exactly what happened.

Finally, the smart angel on my left shoulder prevailed: "Just raise your damn hand." I did, and no one saw it. I left the gun pointed downrange, went through the double doors, and flagged the guy down. To his credit, he didn't make me feel stupid at all.

I confess, there was a split second when the stupid angel on my right shoulder said, "Look down the barrel! See what's going on!"

Fortunately, the smart angel told the stupid one to shut up.

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

8 by highdesert
SunRiseWest wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 10:48 pm As someone who goes to the range maybe five times a year, it's amazing how much psychological resistance there is to raising your hand and calling the range officer over to help clear a jam. Happened to me six months ago with my Mark III -- which I can, actually, take apart and put back together again, though I've only done it twice. It just had some weird-ass jam that I hadn't experienced before, I can't even remember exactly what happened.

Finally, the smart angel on my left shoulder prevailed: "Just raise your damn hand." I did, and no one saw it. I left the gun pointed downrange, went through the double doors, and flagged the guy down. To his credit, he didn't make me feel stupid at all.

I confess, there was a split second when the stupid angel on my right shoulder said, "Look down the barrel! See what's going on!"

Fortunately, the smart angel told the stupid one to shut up.
You're a smart man SRW, if the guy in Ft Worth did that he'd probably still be alive.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

9 by TxChinaman
I remember witnessing something at my local range that made me cringe. I was behind the firing line, walking to the exit door because i was done for the day, but I always keep my eye on the bays just in case someone is doing something stupid like pointing their firearm to the rear. There was only one other shooter at the time. I saw him aim his pistol downrange, and it appeared he was squeezing the trigger repeatedly, but there were no shot fired. He tried again with the same result. He looked confused and hesitant, then he held his pistol sideways to examine it... then he turned the pistol around and looked directly into the muzzle as if the malfunction would somehow reveal itself from that perspective. For a brief second I actually thought I was going to watch this guy put a hole right between his own eyes. I walked out immediately and told the range owner what I had seen, then left for the day. I can imagine a similar malfunction scenario led to the Fort Worth death.

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

14 by bobknob
highdesert wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 12:08 pm I was rear ended a number of years ago by a young girl who was too busy texting to see that traffic on the freeway was stopped. Ironically we had the same insurance company.
Wonder if it was the same young girl that rear-ended my wife going highway speeds while the rest of traffic was stopped. Her excuse? "I'm sooo sorry; I only looked at my phone for a second!"

She didn't keep that same story when the police arrived, unfortunately.

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

15 by highdesert
bobknob wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2025 1:08 pm
highdesert wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 12:08 pm I was rear ended a number of years ago by a young girl who was too busy texting to see that traffic on the freeway was stopped. Ironically we had the same insurance company.
Wonder if it was the same young girl that rear-ended my wife going highway speeds while the rest of traffic was stopped. Her excuse? "I'm sooo sorry; I only looked at my phone for a second!"

She didn't keep that same story when the police arrived, unfortunately.
I got out of my car immediately after the accident and went to see if the other driver was ok. She was in tears still sitting in the drivers seat and her mobile phone was sitting on the passenger seat. I said that in my statement to the insurance company. They eventually found her liable. Come to find out, she had been involved in other accidents and was still a teen.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

16 by BearPaws
TrueTexan wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 11:57 am I was taught by my Dads as a child and later as a teen in JrROTC. Never look down a muzzle of a gun unless it is dismantled.
Indeed. That's the only way to inspect the barrel of a firearm I'm cleaning, so I dismantle it if reasonably possible (i.e. field strip). My lever action .22 doesn't allow that, sadly, so I'm VERY careful.

I've had firearms malfunction at the range (the worst was a .22LR pistol that was a range rental--it was badly in need of a good cleaning, according to the range armorer when I talked to him a few days later). I've taught myself that the first thing to do is hold it on the bench pointed downrange for a minute before letting go of it and asking for the RSO if I can't immediately identify the problem.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

18 by Bisbee
If I experience a malfunction at a controlled range, I always keep the muzzle pointed downrange as I treat the gun like a bottle of nitroglycerin. I pull the magazine and set it down. Then I rack the slide vigorously and check for an empty chamber from the rear. I have experienced one dud which lodged the bullet in the barrel but that was at a desert range with no one else around. I’m glad I felt the difference in recoil (and FTE) to stop immediately and investigate. Again, kept muzzle pointed downrange and away from my face like some dangerous snake.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Gun malfunction leads to an accidental death at a Fort Worth shooting range

19 by BearPaws
Bisbee wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:02 pm If I experience a malfunction at a controlled range, I always keep the muzzle pointed downrange as I treat the gun like a bottle of nitroglycerin. I pull the magazine and set it down. Then I rack the slide vigorously and check for an empty chamber from the rear. I have experienced one dud which lodged the bullet in the barrel but that was at a desert range with no one else around. I’m glad I felt the difference in recoil (and FTE) to stop immediately and investigate. Again, kept muzzle pointed downrange and away from my face like some dangerous snake.
I was having failure to eject issues with my AR-platform, and did pretty much as you describe. Eventually diagnosed the problem as "not cleaning the chamber vigorously enough after using steel-cased ammo that had some sort of polymer coating that was apparently melting in the chamber just enough to grab the next casing."

Once I worked through that supply of steel-cased ammo, I went to brass casings only (and clean that chamber vigorously even if I only run a dry bore snake through the barrel).
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.
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