A 50-year-old man was mistaken for a target and accidentally shot during an exercise at a firearm-training facility in northern Arizona, authorities said.
The Florida man was training with three of his colleagues Sunday at the Gunsite Academy in Paulden, which is about 30 miles north of Prescott, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
The man was standing on a catwalk as his colleague fired at targets. The colleague saw the black silhouette of the man and fired, shooting the man in the abdomen, officials said.
Instructors administered first aid before he was flown to a local hospital for treatment and surgery. On Thursday, he was listed in good condition.
Trainees had been told not to shoot in the area of the catwalk. No charges were expected against the shooter.
Buz Mills is the owner of the facility and candidate for governor. “We are relieved this client is in good condition thanks to the swift actions of our staff at Gunsite and the dedicated paramedics at the Central Yavapai Fire District,” Mills said. Mike Scerbo, press secretary for Buzz Mills, said Mills has owned Gunsite Academy since 1999.
So I picture the catwalk being a little down range and obviously up above the line of fire. Seems unnecessarily dangerous… Is that a common thing on ranges? I’ve been to quite a few in my day and have never seen something like that before. Probably for good reason.
It was a shoot house, and the guy who pulled the trigger should be in jail. How fing stupid can one be to think a target would be placed above the walls on a walkway.
Some people are not cut out for the shoothouse environment…or for firearms training in general. The shoothouse is a stressful environment and everybody doesn’t do well under stress.
wow! that guy needs to pull his head out of his ass. that seems like a no brainer move. I have been in several shoot houses and obviously your not shooting the observer on top. I dont even think the military briefs that one, and i feel like the military is retard friendly.
In Kuwait when we did the shoot houses with the civilian trainer guys everyone who was observing had to be behind the guys shooting (when up on top of the house looking down) Couldn’t be standing above the targets. Also did a dry run before going hot.
But yeah some people are not cut out for this type of thing. I was nervous as shit I was going to get shot in the back or legs by some idiot in my unit. One moron on the convoy live fire iteration put a burst out of his 249 over the head of the gunner in the next truck…:eek: A different deployment another moron let a burst out through the door of the truck (soft skin doors).
Live fire training is the most beneficial but God help you if you have a true moron there with you.
this is scary…having never been to training, is it common for you guys to observe in such a manner while live rounds are going off??
If the shoot house is a regular training exercise and many people are not cut out for the stress, you would think precautions would be in place to keep trainers and observers from becoming tartgets.
again, i’m ignorant on these training facilities and procedures but I see multiple fails.
When I was shooting IPSC I had a white shirt with an airbrushed X from shoulder to hem on both sides. People would look and then laugh…I was a no-shoot target.
Maybe a bit of complacency on the catwalks? I’m pretty sure it’s common sense to stay behind the shooter regardless of how high above them you are. Just my thought.
it also shows the need for good verbal skills.
“Hey, dumbfuks i’m resetting the targets don’t F’in shoot me”
comes to mind.
There are a million “Could have’s, Should have’s” but it boils down
to thank whoever he survived!! with what sounds like no lasting damage.
Now do they learn for this and change to a safer near fool proof method?
And hope by sharing this, others learn for this near tragedy and adopt
safer more fool proof rules and practices.
I doubt it… but time will tell.
We can only hope.
yet another reminder that no matter how long you have been shooting to please shoot safe
