Man Accidentally Shoots And Kills Himself

Man Accidentally Shoots And Kills Himself

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Story Published: Apr 30, 2005 at 4:27 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:55 AM PDT

By KOMO Staff & News Services

TACOMA - A young man playing with a gun shot and killed himself.

Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said Gordon Alterton, 21, had been out drinking with friends.

When they returned to Alterton's Graham-area home early Friday, he grabbed one of two handguns in the house and began playing with it.

He put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, but there was no cartridge in the chamber and the gun didn't fire.

"At that point, his friends told him to knock it off," Troyer said.

But Alterton put the barrel of the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger a second time.

The gun fired, killing him, Troyer said.

"The thinking is he probably thought the gun was unloaded," the spokesman said. "It's just a case of alcohol and guns being a bad mixture."

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