A man in Phoenix, Arizona, accidentally shot himself in the face after a dispute with neighbours who he claimed were being too loud.
The unnamed man was rushed to the emergency room after the incident and is said to be in a critical condition.
The incident occurred when the man, who had already been upstairs and banged on his neighbours’ door to ask them to be quiet, reportedly fired shots into his own ceiling in an attempt to quieten them further. However, one of the shots apparently ricocheted off the ceiling and hit the man in the face.
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Police responded to calls of a shooting in an apartment near 40th Street and Baseline Road in Phoenix, according to ABC15, shortly before midnight on Sunday, October 6.
Phoenix Police said a man in the block was ‘upset with the neighbours above his apartment’. The man had reportedly been banging on his neighbours’ door, even leaving marks on the door as he did so, before returning to his own apartment.
It was at this point he apparently retrieved a handgun and allegedly fired several shots into his own ceiling. However, the final shot reportedly struck the ceiling and bounced back, hitting the man in the face.
ABC15According to the police, the man was swiftly transported to hospital in a critical condition. No one else was hurt in the incident, though neighbours were left disturbed after the bullets struck just beneath their own floorboards, and are now considering moving out.
Police are still investigating the incident, though no charges have yet been filed.
Speaking about the incident, the upstairs neighbour, 18-year-old Ainsley, told ABC15:
He started screaming and screaming, and the only thing that I could make out that he had said was ‘shut the f*ck up’.
PixabayAccording to the 18-year-old, the only thing she could think of that could’ve been loud downstairs was when she moved a table to allow room for a blow-up mattress for the night. However, the table is on wheels and the floors are carpeted, so the source of the noise remains a mystery to her, as she said they were quietly getting ready for bed.
A neighbour across the road, Michelle Adams, said the gunshots were so loud she heard them from the building next door.
According to Giffords Law Center, unintentional shootings in the US make up 1.3 percent of gun deaths and 18 percent of gun-related injuries. Additionally, younger victims are more likely to be accidentally shot by someone else, while older victims are more likely to accidentally shoot themselves.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.