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Subscribe to RSSA Texas woman aiming for a pesky skunk that was feeding off cat food bowls outside her home wound up accidentally shooting her husband when the bullet ricocheted off the porch and struck him in the abdomen, a sheriff said.
The accident happened Sunday night at the family’s home in a subdivision south of College Station, Texas, Brazos County Sheriff Christopher Kirk said.
“Apparently they feed their cats out of bowls outside the back of the porch. They had a skunk that had been coming up there feeding. They decided they wanted to dispatch that skunk,” Kirk told NBC News on Tuesday.
The wife went out to retrieve her .45-caliber handgun, which was legally permitted, from her purse in an office in an attached garage. The husband stayed inside the home.
The wife shot at the skunk but missed. The bullet ricocheted off the porch, penetrated the back door of the home and struck her husband in the abdomen. The bullet did not damage any vital organs and wound up lodged in the hip area, the sheriff said.
The husband was airlifted to a hospital in Houston, where he was treated and released on Monday.
Kirk said investigators interviewed the husband and wife separately and their stories were consistent that the shooting was an unfortunate accident.
“She was very concerned about her husband and certainly having created that situation,” the sheriff said of the wife.
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The couple’s names were not released. Kirk said they were in their early 50s.
The couple’s seven children were also in the home at the time but none witnessed the accident and none were hurt, the sheriff said.
Kirk said investigators will present their findings to the prosecutor to see if any laws were broken.
“Discharging a firearm in that situation was probably not good judgment,” Kirk said. “It certainly was reckless but I don’t know if anyone would be served if any charges were to be filed.”
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Kirk said even the skunk cooperated with the investigation.
“He actually came back while our investigators were at the scene and tried to feed again off the cat bowls. We chased it off,” he said.
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Leave a Comment:
All I can say is WTF!!???
1st off firing a gun in a populated area is all kinds of stupid.
2nd a .45 for a skunk is a bit overkill, a .22 would do the job or a trap.
3rd Not knowing the marital situation maybe she did shoot the skunk....
maybe she did shoot the skunk -- the 2-legged one! ;)
#1. Don't trust a woman with a gun.
#2. Cat's shouldn't be allowed to roam outdoors. Nor should you leave their food outside, else a skunk or raccoon eats it.
#3. Killing a skunk on your porch is a bad idea, unless you want it to always smell like a dead skunk.
Next time, try a trap. In some states, animal control will bring you one and come to get the trapped critter.
Come and get a trap with a skunk in it? Ya think? I sure as ..... wouldn't be going near it.
Yep...those Texans love their guns.
In New York City this week, 2 police shot about 16 rounds at the shooter who killed his ex-boss near the Empire State Building. Hit him 10 times. Hit 9 other bystanders, most by ricochets. So even trained police can get ricochets.
Shooting into concrete, steel and granite, duh! You think. The bullets break up into smaller bits and they have a shotgun blast effect. In the burbs a bullet can travel through several house structures before expending all it's energy.
When shooting small game and varmints around the house, barn and chicken coop use a .410 shotgun with number 5 shot. In the old days 1950 and 60's you could get a buck a piece for a skunk for the hide. I always wonder who was wearing skunk. It is not something you see advertised. The skunks did have nice fur. Skunks are pleasant enough but they do not mix well with your chickens.
Never said all Texans were mentally competent. We sort of run with the National average, 50% is passing, 51% is considered a fricking genus. Back when I used to hunt, there were times I simply packed my stuff and walked off, after watching how some of those people handled their guns. I have one pistol, it is a small one, I believe in keeping my phallic symbolism honest.
The lawyers smell a pot of gold, stand back! they will eat their young to get some of it! the victims will be the ones the lawyers trample on!
I live in the Hudson Valley (NYS) and feed my cats on the front porch. Once they've finished eating several furry friends visit the porch to finish the leftovers. I've got a baby muskrat, a family of racoons (mama, papa and baby) and a little skunk.
Lucky for me they always wait for my kitties to finish eating, they're very polite and always leave clean bowls ... lucky for them I'm not packing any heat : )))))
Vaccinate your cats.
If the raccoon's show up in daytime they could have rabies. Do not forget to feed the coons or there next meal will be your pets. Raccoons are smart wild animals and predators do not encourage these animals into or around your home. They are very wild and can be extremely destructive. Raccoons are known to kill trained dogs.
There should be an IQ test for gun ownership.
A 45 for a skunk? Really? No guarantee that he doesn't unload if you hit him, and he probably will if you miss him. Deep thinker.
GCV, There is it starts at 2 and ends at nd Amendment.
Might want to consider feeding the cats indoors instead, huh?
Wow, she was able to make it look like an accident. Not too shabby
Pretty convincing, or the Police knew exactly the message she was sending to her husband. If I`m him I do whatever she tells me from now on ........NO BACKTALKING !
I'm just going to throw my ignorance out there: why would a bullet bounce off a wooden porch, then go through the door? Was it a stone porch instead?
Makes you wounder what questions the husband is asking about now!
Didn't see where it said what the porch was made out of. To answer your question, no wood probably wouldn't ricochet, but a nail could cause one. And there could be stone or concrete involved depending on how it was constructed. It wouldn't necessarily be wood.
Abosulutly correct! I also wonder exactly how she managed to aim at the skunk only to have some "unbeleivable" shot go through the door and hit her husband. Not in the leg or the arm, "but right in the abdomen" ! She was aiming at the skunk right? It was a message to him "he`d better not be fooling around,
betternot even think about it" !I love the fact that no matter the subject, that is gets to bigotry about religion and politics. What if I said that I could guess the race of the person commenting. This shows how low people can get in a split second. This was so fun until the nuts and bigots chimed in.
I got a mental picture of the skunk standing off somewhere watching the whole commotion laughing its arse off!
#1 DON"T put food outside if you don't want un-welcomed animals such as skunks and other critters
#2 Take the gun away from that lady! If she is stupid enough to shoot at skunk on her porch (where it would have let out a massive stink if it was hit) and has bad enough aim to miss -- she doesn't need a gun.
Sigh.... wonder what the feminine of Bubba is? Bubbette?
the feminine of Bubba is, abby-1588585, next time don't ask stupid questions, bubba might be online.
45 cal for a skunk ? Must have been one very large and nasty skunk !
Seven children in the house and she is using a 45 to shoot a skunk.........and cannot hit him !
lesson 1 - don't argue then grab a gun. 2) don't use cheney excuse, it's getting old.
All citizens have the right to own a gun. HOWEVER, not all citizens should own a gun. This dumass is one of the latter. She could just as easily killed one of her kids. Anybody know if she's an NRA member?
The Teabillies are right: We need MORE guns!
It's Texas!!!! Let's hope more women shoot at "skunks" down there!
real story: stupid crackers too stupid not to stupidly leave food out where it will stupidly attract wild animals, stupidly attract wild animals. stupidly frustrated that they have stupidly attracted wild animals, they stupidly blast away with guns they shouldn't have to begin with (because of how stupid they are), stupidly wounding their stupid selves. sane, intelligent people laugh, conclude stupid people shouldn't be allowed to have guns. deranged, stupid people conclude that the solution to this stupid problem is somehow--more guns.
meanwhile, there will always be skunks, and if you leave cat food outdoors the skunks might try to eat it, stupid.
Thanks, Ben. That made me spray iced tea over my laptop monitor. :)
This idiot violated one of the 4 cardinal rules of gun safety: Know your target and what's behind it. You should never fire a weapon in a direction where the bullet could strike someone or something you don't intend to hit. She is not smart enough to own/use a firearm, legal or not.
It's a shame the bullet didn't ricochet and hit HER. Pity her husband had to pay for her stupidity.
Which skunk?
More fun with guns, courtesy of the NRA. "A well regulated militia being necessary to protect us from vermin..."
Good... she shouldn't be shooting a skunk in the first place. Too bad it didn't hit her as well ...