Soldier admits killing friend in attempt to cure hiccups
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - A Fort Hood soldier has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, saying he shot his friend accidentally while trying to scare away his hiccups.
Fort Hood officials say Spc. Patrick Edward Myers, of Spartanburg, S.C., was sentenced Thursday to 3½ years in military prison. He also was busted to private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge.
Myers fatally shot Pfc. Isaac Lawrence Young in September while they were watching a football game at a Killeen apartment. Myers told police he thought the weapon had dummy rounds and was trying to scare his friend so his hiccups would stop.
Young, of Ash Grove, Mo., was 22.
The case was tried in military court on the Central Texas Army post because the victim and suspect were soldiers.
Fort Hood officials say Spc. Patrick Edward Myers, of Spartanburg, S.C., was sentenced Thursday to 3½ years in military prison. He also was busted to private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge.
Myers fatally shot Pfc. Isaac Lawrence Young in September while they were watching a football game at a Killeen apartment. Myers told police he thought the weapon had dummy rounds and was trying to scare his friend so his hiccups would stop.
Young, of Ash Grove, Mo., was 22.
The case was tried in military court on the Central Texas Army post because the victim and suspect were soldiers.
Fool + firearm all over again...
I agree with momtodogs. Alchohol involved. There is no training for sensible intake. Just put the guns away.Â
the only 'dummy' was pulling the trigger. Sounds like alcohol was involved.
I guess it really doesn't matter how much training a gun owner has, they are still plenty capable of doing something incredibly stupid. Too bad it's always an innocent person who pays the price...
Dummy rounds fired by a dummy!
And I thought breathing into a paper bag was dumb.
Well, the hiccups were cured....
Guns. Such a great invention. Love it. Keep it up America, keep it up..
 @geo liquor Now that he's dead (and his hiccups are gone) at least he's safe from the possibility of having to shoot a home invader.
 @geo liquor Yes, the gun floated up in the air on it's own an shot the man.  The idiot human sitting next to him who made the choice to 1)  fire a gun without checking it 2) assuming it had "dummy" ammo (what?) 3) pointed it at another human 4) used it to cure...hiccups,...certainly had NOTHING to do with it.
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Yeah, sound logic.
 @geo liquor You're questioning the invention of guns? ROFL! Do tell us all more please.
When I teach classes I use dummy rounds/snap caps/training rounds. I even have rubber training guns. If any student points even the fake gun at someone else they fail the class. Following the basic safety rules would have prevented this.
D U H - mindless idiot!
Test your friend's IQ. It will save your life someday...
Three and a half years? You get longer for file-sharing.
..... What a moron!!Â
wowsers...this is incredible
With friends like that.... who needs enemies....
This guy's stupidity has left me speechless.
I wonder how much alcohol was involved in this little miracle cure? Â And who keeps dummy rounds in a gun, unless they're a track coach? (and yes, I know starter pistols are not capable of firing live rounds). Â Sounds like a superbowl party I wouldn't be going to: "Let's see, I've got the beer, I've got the chips, and I've got my loaded handgun....."
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Only 3½ years for being THAT stupid? Whoever let him plead down to this deserves 3½ years themselves for stupidity!
Dummy rounds??? We know who the dummy is. Some people are just to stupid to be allowed to have a gun.
Ummm, shouldnt somebody in the military know better than to point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger? What ever happened to jumping out from behind a door to scare somebody and getting rid of hiccups that way?  How about drinking lots of water?   Holding your breath?   I dont know, that seems like three good ways to try and relieve the problem.    Not the smartest apple on the tree.
All you really have to do is stick your finger all the way back in your throat and make your self vomit just a little. It works every time. I dont think it has anything to do with vomiting - its the shock of it that stops it - but I dont know.
 @Andy Pollow You might have something there. My mate got them and instantly there were 37-11 million ways to cure them. He tried them all at once and when his mother seen him turning blue told him to breath. He took in a great breath and spewed all over the table. Cured the hiccups.
As callas as this may sound he did cure the hiccups. It also goes to show you just don't mess with guns. Guns are for shooting something, not scaring them or playing with.Â
He found a cure for hiccups!!
Permanently.
What is the Army teaching it's soldiers these days?
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Is gun safety NOT part of thier training?
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Come on - 'I thought it had practice rounds' is pathetic. You NEVER shoot at someone unless you are going to kill them. You ALWAYS verify what kind of round you are shooting if you are doing something unusual. You ALWAYS take the safety of other people as your primary priority when shooting....
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hell, My Marine Corps Senior Drill Instructor Sgt. Thompson would rise from his grave and hunt me down and give me the beating of a lifetime if I ever got that stupid with a gun.
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@FormerMarineSgt - it's the Army, not the Marines... ;)
@FormerMarineSgt as he should! :-)
 @FormerMarineSgt perhaps they need to have alcohol education, as well.Â
 @FormerMarineSgt Perhaps he skipped day 1? The whole story seems a bit odd to me...who keeps "dummy" rounds in their gun as a norm? And what kind of idiot points a loaded gun at a non threat outside of an organized and controlled training setting?
I suspect that there is more to this than is posted at present. That is just too far beyond the pale to be seriously considered as a defense. At least I HOPE SO.
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I've been around guns and explosives since i was very young. You dont mess with either of them. I also teach firearm safety...this is too incredible to believed.
 @Woodswalker That was my thought. I bet he made up the defense.
 @FormerMarineSgt You cant fix stupid and this guy is the definition of the word, I was taught to not even point a toy gun at a human being from the age of 3....
Wow, brilliant. Well at least he got the hiccups to stop.
 @Ron Burgandy ...at least you would hope they stopped.
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 @aintno1special  @Ron Burgandy Yeah like he's laying there dead still hiccupping...lol. This is an awful conversation.
@aintno1special @Ron Burgandy That is really twisted, but funny!