Verne Strickland Blogmaster / January 19, 2013
Wilmington gun owner charges in accidental discharge of shotgun at Dixie Gun and Knife Show at N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.
By Emery P. Dalesio
Published: Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 5:44 p.m.
RALEIGH | A retired sheriff’s deputy and two bystanders were hurt when gunfire erupted at a large gun show at North Carolina’s state fairgrounds on Saturday — a shooting that officials and witnesses are calling accidental.
A 12-gauge shotgun discharged while its owner removed it from its case at a security checkpoint at the entrance to the Dixie Gun and Knife Show, fairgrounds Police Chief Joel Keith said Saturday. The event draws thousands of people to the fairgrounds, located in Raleigh.
Janet
Hoover, 54, of Benson and Linwood Hester, 50, of Durham were hit by
shotgun pellets and taken to a hospital, Keith said. Hoover was hit with
small, birdshot pellets in her right torso, while Hester was hit in the
left hand, Keith said.
Retired
Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy Jake Alderman, 54, of Wake Forest,
suffered a slight hand injury and was treated and released at a Raleigh
hospital, Keith said.
Authorities
say the shotgun’s owner, 36-year-old Gary Lynn Wilson of Wilmington,
brought the weapon looking for a private buyer. While guns are banned
from the fairgrounds during the annual state fair, Keith said he didn’t
know if Wilson might face criminal charges for bringing a loaded shotgun
onto state property.
Wake
County Sheriff Donnie Harrison, whose agency is investigating the
shooting, said his officers would consult with prosecutors but that it
was too early to know whether Wilson might be charged.
“What we see is an accident,” Harrison said.
Wilson’s
shotgun discharged while he unzipped its case for it to be checked,
said Brian Long, a spokesman for the state agriculture department, which
operates the fairgrounds.
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