On December 3, 2022, two 23-year-old Brevard County Deputy Sheriffs, best friends, and roommates were at home playing video games. While the two were taking a break, one of the young men retrieved a gun that he believed to be unloaded and “jokingly” pointed it at the other. A round was fired, hitting the other Deputy, and killing him.
The shooter called 911 and was “distraught and devastated when first responders arrived.” He has been charged with manslaughter.
The Brevard County Sheriff stated:
“Folks, this unnecessary and totally avoidable incident not only took the life of an amazing young man and Deputy, but it has also forever changed the life of another good young man who made an extremely poor and reckless decision.”
There it is, everyone. A trained, armed professional violated the most basic of the firearms safety rules and killed his best friend. He will likely never work in his chosen field again (and probably should not). As the Sheriff said, his life will be forever changed. Yet more proof that no matter how much training you have, the four universal firearms safety rules ALWAYS apply to you just as much as they do to the person who just bought their first gun. STAY SAFE OUT THERE!
4 Rules of Firearm Safety: Watch What Happens When You Don’t Follow Them
He’ll be lucky if he isn’t charged with manslaughter. Years ago it would have just been written off as a stupid but unintentional accident, but these days everyone gets charged with a major crime for something like this. You’d thick a LEO would know better but this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.