Boy, 7, shot to death at Pennsylvania gun store
MERCER, Pa. (AP) - A man's handgun went off while he was holding it as he got into his truck in the parking lot of a western Pennsylvania gun store Saturday, and the shot killed his 7-year-old son, authorities said.
Joseph V. Loughrey, 44, of Sharpsville, was getting into the truck when the 9 mm handgun discharged, wounding Craig Allen Loughrey in the chest, according to state police. The boy died at the scene at Twigs Reloading Den in East Lackawannock Township, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said Loughrey told them he didn't realize there was a bullet still in the chamber. "This happens all too often where people think the gun was empty," Lt. Eric Hermick told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Loughrey was trying to sell two guns at the store - one a scope rifle and the other, the handgun, state police said. The owners told Loughrey the store doesn't buy guns so Loughrey and his son returned to the truck with them. Loughrey put the boy in the passenger seat and loaded the rifle into the truck, state police said. He was attempting to get inside and reached to put the handgun in the center storage console when it fired, they said.
Loughrey was questioned by state police, who said he was cooperative and distraught. The shooting is being investigated as an accident, although Loughrey could face charges, including manslaughter and negligence, Hermick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"I know that little kid was everything to him," Mark McLaughlin of Fredonia, a friend and co-worker of Loughrey's at Superior Well Services in Fredonia, told the Tribune-Review.
Messages left for the coroner's office and at a listing in Loughrey's name were not immediately returned.
Joseph V. Loughrey, 44, of Sharpsville, was getting into the truck when the 9 mm handgun discharged, wounding Craig Allen Loughrey in the chest, according to state police. The boy died at the scene at Twigs Reloading Den in East Lackawannock Township, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said Loughrey told them he didn't realize there was a bullet still in the chamber. "This happens all too often where people think the gun was empty," Lt. Eric Hermick told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Loughrey was trying to sell two guns at the store - one a scope rifle and the other, the handgun, state police said. The owners told Loughrey the store doesn't buy guns so Loughrey and his son returned to the truck with them. Loughrey put the boy in the passenger seat and loaded the rifle into the truck, state police said. He was attempting to get inside and reached to put the handgun in the center storage console when it fired, they said.
Loughrey was questioned by state police, who said he was cooperative and distraught. The shooting is being investigated as an accident, although Loughrey could face charges, including manslaughter and negligence, Hermick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"I know that little kid was everything to him," Mark McLaughlin of Fredonia, a friend and co-worker of Loughrey's at Superior Well Services in Fredonia, told the Tribune-Review.
Messages left for the coroner's office and at a listing in Loughrey's name were not immediately returned.
Where is the compassion for this man who has just lost his son in such a tragic and horrifying way?  Why is there such a need for everyone to find fault and blame?Â
this is pathetic but at least it was his own offspring.
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almost darwinian except he should have done HIMSELF in before he could do his own offspring in.
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How tragic. Guns are too dangerous to be handled around children.Â
I do not know for sure, but I bet this was a GLOCK or a type of semiautomatic that does not have a safety or will fire with the clip removed and a ROUND in the chamber. Â Glocks will fire under both conditions, and worse yet, Â it has NO LOADED CHAMBER INDICATOR EITHER. Â I own a Glock, and consider it the most unsafe handgun I have, Â even worse than a revolver, which I will not own.
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Sorry Glock owners. Â Don't rag on me, that is just the way it is. Â Like I said, I own one.
 @Pathfinder Glocks actually do have several safeties. Just not the traditional thumb safety. And wrong again, some Glocks do have loaded chamber indicators. If you feel the Glock is so unsafe, you are being irresponsible by keeping it. I own a Glock and manage to feel perfectly safe when handling it.
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The problem is you can't ever think the chamber is empty. You need to know. If I let someone look at my pistol, I lock the slide back and check. They handle it, blah blah blah, hand it back. I check again even though it hasn't left my sight since I last checked it. Gun safety is key. In most of these accidental cases it starts with "I thought the chamber was empty".
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i agree i sold my glock and replaced it with a ruger cause of this issue.
 @Pathfinder I would be happy to purchase your unsafe unwanted Glock (any caliber). Reply to me here if you are interested in making me a decent offer.Â
@Pathfinder What gen Glock do you own? Gen 3 & Gen 4 DO have loaded chamber indicators, not sure about 1st 2 gens. It's the little tab just rear of the ejection port on the slide; it's a visual & tactile indicator. Regardless, this man violated the 4 universal safety rules for handling firearms: 1- All guns are always loaded. 2 - Never point gun at anything you're not willing to destroy. 3 - Finger off trigger until you are on target, ready to shoot. 4 - Be certain of what lies behind and around your target. Proper unloading sequence is to "drop & pull": drop magazine, THEN pull slide to eject chambered round. Rack it a few times to be sure, insert pinky to feel that chamber is empty. Untrained or negligent persons tend to eject the round (which only chambers another round when the slide advances), and they drop the mag last. That is a deadly mistake, which this man so tragically learned today. He also made the mistake of attempting to place a loaded and unsecured weapon within the child's reach. Guns don't "go off" - we have to pull the trigger.
This is what I find incredible about some of the comments about this story; it is about the gun, treat a weapon as if it's loaded and I own a revolver, and the safety is your finger
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So, in the past year we lost 3 kids that heard about and a 1 wounded all by legally owned guns. Still, the conversation is always about the stupity of the gun owner.
I know 99% of gun owners do not want children to die for any reason but for some reason I can't help but feel kids dying is a side effect to the 2nd amendment.
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I work around my house on any given weekend or summer night and it sounds like a gun range. I see a lady go to mail box with a gun strapped to her hip kid in tow going to the mail box.
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I talk with people in the area stay armed out of fear that Obama will take thier guns, thier house will be robbed or a home invasion. When in reality Obama has no desire to take guns, 9 out 10 home invasion are not random and most break in are while your out.
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I don't want anyone to loose thier guns or take mine, just pleasethink of the children. Idon't see any reason to take a child to a gun shop or gun range-that goes into the stupid range.
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Do like most people out here, teach your kid to handle a weapon just one on one in the privacy of your back yard if you live out on acreage like me.
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Don't carry a weapon in your car unless it is strapped to you.
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I rant when I hear of a child dying in this manner-senseless.
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 @Pathfinder Isn't the saying something along the lines of people kill people, guns don't kill people.
 @NWNative Guns kill people every day, and they have so many stupid people available to help them. You can use whatever arguement you want, if this dad had just left the store from buying a knife, bow and arrows, hatchet, etc, his son would still be alive.
I own a revolver, and the safety is your finger. Don't pull it unless you're ready to fire it. That said; any Dad that allows his child to be exposed to firearms, period, must teach them safe gun habits. All guns are always loaded. Never put your finger on the trigger untill you are ready to shoot. Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
 @Pathfinder Don't blame the instrument of death, blame the incompetent user of the instrument.
 @Larry*X*K  @Pathfinder well let's require anyone who owns these to have a room temperature iq AND pass a drug and alcohol test first.
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that would eliminate at least half or more of gun owners.
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Every republican't wants to implement mandatory pee tests before giving any "entitlement" well owning a gun is an entitlement and if you cannot pass a pee test forget about it.
the NUMERO UNO rule is you must ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS treat weapons as if they are loaded!!!!! Furthermore, what the he!! was this jerkoff doing bringing his son to the gun store, let alone feeling like he needed to even OWN a gun in the first place. Wow. major tragedy on all levels.
This is beyond sad. Too many people have lost their lives to empty guns.I cannot imagine the father's pain.Fellow gun owners, let us take this moments to review our own safety procedures. Sometimes we can get too familiar with our guns, leading to complacency.A two-second press check can save a lifetime of grief.
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When I was a teenager, my father checked the handgun (A 22 cal S&W) then looked at me saying the most important words "Always treat these as though they are loaded and never point it at others unless you understand the consequences." As you can see Ive never forgotten those words yet I wish to understand why people do not teach this to anyone even if they are experienced handling weapons.
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@DarkRenegade - that was a great analogy that your father used.
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If my kids were still that young, I'd steal that and use it with them.  I did train mine well - to this day (all are over the age of 23) they still treat guns with that level of respect.  At least I seem to have gotten that right when they were young....
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 @FormerMarineSgt Steal? Its there openly if it helps others. My father is retired USAF but he learned it from my grandfather US Army (WWII). Seems to be a family tradition.
Mine too, generations of Marines, most dead. My respects to all my fellow servicemen. I may have been first on the ground, but you guys held it!
Really worth having a gun, ain't it  (Sarcasm)  All my firearms safety classes drilled into all of us from a young age that when you are in possession of a gun you might as well be holding a p*ssed off rattlesnake at all times. When I was an owner I stepped up to that every second I had my hands on one. The stats about possession increasing the chances a family member will be injured or the thing will be stolen are all true and I advocate giving them up unless you have to hunt for meat or are being stalked by someone.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 better to have a thing and not need it then to NEED IT AND NOT HAVE IT. To each his own,
The most basic rule you learn when taking firearm training; even when empty don't point your gun at anyone. Why can't these morons who own firearms learn this? Rest in peace poor little lad, what a way to learn a simple lesson. Some Xmas this unfortunate family will experience - planning a funeral for a young child instead of celebrating with him. NEVER point at another human being EMPTY OR LOADED. You just DO NOT do this. Read about it all the time though. You are MINDFUL every second of where it's pointed.
@alexcrowley - there's also another part to that 'most basic rule'.
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That part being:Â You ALWAYS verify that a gun does not have a round in the chamber when you remove the clip / pick it up / get one handed to you after being told 'it's empty' / etc. etc. etc.
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In my opinion, NO ONE who fails to verify this should be allowed to carry a gun.  EVER. (granted, that's only my opinion and not anything else).   Of course I was trained in the Corps after being trained by my father - BOTH of whom insured that was drilled into my head so that I would never, ever forget it.
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How many gun toting / owning morons are going to have to kill children before we step up as a society and insure that ALL gun owners follow the basic freaking gun safety rules???? Â
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How many times do we have to see a headline like this where the response is nothing more than 'oops, he didn't mean it' and then we all forget and nothing is ever done?????
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No - I'm not talking about taking guns away from people (except in my rant above).
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When will we as a society --ALL OF US--- take on gun ownership like we've taken on drinking and driving? We punish the hell outa drunk drivers. If they hurt or kill someone because of thier own carelessness or thier own lack of responsibility, we punish the hell outa them. EVEN WHEN IT'S AN ACCIDENT.
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But with guns, it sure seems like 'hell no - we can't do that'. WHY????????????????????????
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 @FormerMarineSgt Absolutely agree with you 100% in this regard.
This is just sickening. So many kids being killed by their parents guns lately and still these idiots can't keep them secure. Anybody who has ever been trained in the use of a firearm knows the first rule is that it's never empty. I'm a firm believer in the 4th Amendment but not so much when it comes to morons owning them.
 @Gigantor! 2nd Amendment, 4th is unlawful search and seizure.
The 2nd,Amendment, yeah that one too.
 @Tom Allmendinger  @Gigantor! Who cares which one? Amendment is Amendment, me want guns
Way to go AP, call the man and leave messages on a phone listed in his name, right after he accidentally killed his son. What the hell is wrong with the media? I wonder what they were planning on asking if he had picked up; maybe something like "How does it feel to know you accidentally shot your son to death"? So classy.
 @northwestsurfer No offense but YOU are "the media".  Here you are reading a story about the pain of another human being.  See all those ads popping up on the sides of this story that is what pays the salaries of "the media" and if YOU were not here they would not be here.
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You have a very symbiotic relationship with the media.
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But sure, go ahead and criticize them for providing YOU with the stuff you like to read....
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Mirror time.
@sunnysandiego
You have a pretty narrow minded view of life. Objective reporting of incidents that happen, is one thing. Attempting to contact the family of someone who just lost their life and interview them so you can obtain "the story" is completely different. It's also tasteless, lacks and journalistic integrity, and the only reason a reporter would do it is to further their career.
My relationship with the media is to read about current events; I do not need to know how a family feels after their 7 year old son was shot to death, because a reporter was able to reach them by phone for comment.
Are you that stupid? Do you honestly feel that its ok for a writer to call someone after they lost their son and ask them for comments, so they can write about them? You are so far removed from reality, dragons and unicorns exist in your world. Mirror time, idiot.
The dude sold a loaded gun? Prosecute the monkey
@Larry*X*K ---- he didn't sell it. He tried to, but the shop said they can buy them. Nevertheless, having it loaded was only one of many mistakes here.
So much pain and loss. I can not even imagine.