[url]http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/80915[/url]

I have worked with all the people involved in this. 4 (2 resigned and 2 got fired) people lost there job including 2 of my good freinds. With that said....that was very stupid!

From what I have heard he was inserting a magazine into his Tarus (PT111?) .40. It then went off.



Two men get minor injuries after gun fires in hotel room
2002-01-27
by Anna C. Irwin
of The Daily Times Staff

Two Blount County men suffered minor wounds late Friday when a handgun they were examining went off in a Gatlinburg hotel room.

Authorities said Marcus James Sheppard, 26, Old Piney Road, Maryville, was holding the .40-caliber semi-automatic Taurus when it fired, wounding him and Steven Casey Boring, 22, of Elm Drive, Maryville.

According to the police investigators' report forwarded to Blount County Sheriff James L. Berrong by Gatlinburg Police Chief Harry Montgomery, the incident occurred as follows:

The bullet went through Sheppard's calf, then through Boring's right foot, ending up on the carpet in the room at the Holiday Inn Sunspree.

Sheppard, an emergency medical technician employed by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service, was in Gatlinburg as one of several adult volunteers who serve as advisors to the Explorer Post sponsored by Rural/Metro.

The Explorer program allows young people ages 14 to 21 to learn about and gain experience in a particular field. Ten members of the Rural/Metro post were in Gatlinburg participating in a weekend conference and competition for Explorers involved in emergency response, law enforcement and related fields.

Rob Webb, director of Rural/Metro services in Blount County, said the young people from Blount County and two couples accompanying them were in rooms on the hotel's fourth floor. Another couple and several other advisers were in rooms on the third floor.

Webb said Boring is an EMT working in the Blount County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division and is friends with several fellow EMTs working at Rural/Metro. Boring joined five of the advisors in one of the rooms on the third floor where they were reportedly talking and visiting.

Handling the guns

The conversation apparently turned to firearms, and since Boring works in law enforcement, he was being consulted about various weapons. One of the advisors brought out a handgun from his luggage, then Sheppard went to his vehicle and retrieved his ``unloaded'' Taurus handgun to show to Boring.

Minutes later, around midnight, a single bullet in the gun's chamber fired. Webb said witnesses reported the shot startled everyone in the room but Sheppard and Boring did not immediately realize they had been hit.

cont...

cont....

Once the men discovered they were bleeding, authorities were notified and an ambulance summoned. The four emergency medical workers in the room with the wounded men immediately administered first aid using equipment and supplies intended for use in the competition scheduled Saturday. They had an IV going in Sheppard's arm and had both victims ready to transport before Gatlinburg Fire Department ambulance personnel arrived.

Taken to hospitals

Sheppard was taken by ambulance to Pigeon Forge where he was picked up by Lifestar air ambulance and flown to University of Tennessee Medical Center. He was admitted and listed in stable condition Saturday afternoon.

Boring was taken by private vehicle to Blount Memorial Hospital where he was treated in the emergency room and released.

According to the Gatlinburg Police chief, the incident was an unfortunate accident and no charges will be filed.

Webb said Sheppard and the other advisor who had a gun in the hotel room are suspended pending the outcome of a review of the incident.

The Explorers from the Rural/Metro Blount County post missed Saturday's competition and other activities. They returned to Blount County Saturday due to loss of some of the advisors accompanying them.

R35

It's always the [i]unloaded[/i] guns that "just go off".