Idiot of the Week: Teen Taken To ER After Shooting Himself While Cleaning Gun

This week's idiot is a teenager who was cleaning a gun and shot himself through the hand. First, why in the world does a teenager have a gun? Second, why didn't he check the chambers and empty the bullets? Third, why was a teen allowed to clean a gun without an adult? All good questions. Here's the story about this week's idiot.

(Photo: Not the actual victim's hand)

Teen Taken To Concord ER After Shooting Himself While Cleaning Gun

  Tony Schinella, Patch Apr 6, 2024 at 7:05 pm ET

CONCORD, NH — Police are investigating an accidental shooting involving a teenager who was reportedly cleaning his gun when he shot himself in the hand on Saturday, April 13, 2024.

Around 12:45 p.m., officers and fire and rescue teams were sent to the River Hill Market on Carter Hill Road in Concord for a report of a man, 19, who shot himself in the hand while cleaning a firearm. The man and a woman were reportedly inside a gray SUV outside the store.

Police arrived first and ran checks on two people while a tourniquet was wrapped around the man’s hand. When firefighters and EMTs arrived, they requested a trauma alert at Concord Hospital and took the teen to the emergency room.

An officer met with the victim at the hospital later. One officer requested another to get pictures of the wound. The woman who was with the teen lived in Penacook and police decided to drive by a home on Washington Street to see if there were any blood trails or any other evidence there.

The officer spoke to four juveniles playing outside a nearby school, and they reported not hearing any gunshots in the area during the prior 30 minutes.

Officers learned a family member would be meeting the teen at the hospital and requested to check the home to make sure “there’s nothing else crazy going on in there.” Later, the officer in Penacook reported finding blood and tracks in the snow outside of the home on Washington Street and took a picture of the evidence. They said they would be securing the area, too. More officers were then sent to Penacook to investigate.

During this process, they received consent from the owner of the building to search the premises. Later, an officer reported finding a bullet hole at the home and requested officers at the hospital to get the full story about what happened. An officer at the hospital replied the man was being given medications and did not know when he would be able to talk, according to scanner chatter.

Another officer ran a check on the handgun. Police also requested firefighters to hose down the parking lot at River Hill Market to clean up the blood. This is the second time in less than a week a man has shot himself accidentally in Concord, New Hampshire.