MO - Megan Reppond, 14, shot to death at Neosho slumber party, 27 Dec 2010

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Loaded gun kills girl at slumber party

NEOSHO, Mo. — A loaded handgun left out in a home where some teenage girls were having a slumber party Monday night resulted in the fatal shooting of one of the girls.
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Sheriff Ken Copeland said that Megan G. Reppond, 14, of Joplin, was discovered at the address with a gunshot wound to her head and was taken to a Joplin hospital. She subsequently was flown by medical helicopter to a Springfield hospital, where she died about 10 a.m. today after being taken off life support, the sheriff said.

Copeland said the girl was shot with a .38-caliber handgun that had been left on a piano in the home. Another 14-year-old girl from Joplin who was at the party picked up the gun when the girls entered the room and pulled its trigger, assuming it was not loaded, the sheriff said. The gun discharged, with the bullet striking Reppond in the head, he said.
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more at
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1939349175/Loaded-gun-kills-girl-at-slumber-party
 
:rant: I hope they charge the gun owner. WTH is really wrong with people - can anyone tell me?
 
:rant: I hope they charge the gun owner. WTH is really wrong with people - can anyone tell me?

Also people really should teach their children not to pick up guns and pull triggers.
 
The image of the loaded gun atop the piano somehow makes this all the more grotesque.
 
that poor girl, cannot imagine what she will go through the rest of her life knowing she killed her friend...I hope she gets the needed councelling
 
14-year olds should be old enough to know not to pick up guns and pull triggers...obviously the gun should not have been left there, unbelievable to me how this still happens.
But I agree that the girl who did pull that trigger will need some serious help, as well as the other girls, and the parents should have to answer to some degree for their carelessness.
 
I agree with your statement....as a parent of a teen and one on her way they are notorious for doing stupid things without thinking....thats a heck of a lesson to learn
 
Also people really should teach their children not to pick up guns and pull triggers.

Probably. But it's a rather abstract lesson for 14-year-olds who live in houses where guns aren't left out on pianos in the first place, don't you think?
 
Girl dies of injuries from shooting

One girl opened the holster and took out the weapon, which discharged, striking the other girl in the head.
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[Sheriff] Copeland said the homeowner had received a new holster for Christmas and had gotten the revolver out of the safe to try out the gift.

Later, the homeowner placed the weapon atop the piano in a room he didn’t think the girls would enter.

http://www.neoshodailynews.com/news/x1682038982/Girl-dies-of-injuries-from-shooting
 
Probably. But it's a rather abstract lesson for 14-year-olds who live in houses where guns aren't left out on pianos in the first place, don't you think?

Abstract or not, 14 year old is not 4 year old.
 
Abstract or not, 14 year old is not 4 year old.

I grew up in the tropics. At 14, I'd heard of frost-bite, but I certainly was in no position to fend for myself in the snow.

The point is there's no excuse for leaving a gun laying around, IMHO.
 
Probably. But it's a rather abstract lesson for 14-year-olds who live in houses where guns aren't left out on pianos in the first place, don't you think?

Amen Nova, Amen!
 
I love how the Neosho Daily News says twice in a short article that the girls were "not expected" to be in the room. Propaganda much?

Unless it was a super-secret lair hidden beneath the pantry and known only to Alfred the butler, I'm not excusing the home/gunowner.

Things like this is why I hate that ol' saying "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Well, if the gun wasn't there and loaded the person would not have been killed!
 
Oh what a horrible tragic story. I bet the guy would have been more hyper- aware of not leaving the gun out had these been smaller children. I sympathize with the guy, although one should always remember that teenagers are not very bright and they have terrible judgment. (try telling them that though, I double dog dare ya)

I feel like this is just a horrible accident - I don't think the guy was grossly negligent and the girl's parents did not teach her well, and if they tried, she was old enough to know better. Kids that age are charged as adults for crimes they commit so I don't think it's out of line to say they should be responsible for their negligence as well. She's probably suffered enough however. Who will be sued for the wrongful death?
 
bad gun owners. Anyone who has firearms needs to take a close look at where they keep them, and whether they are secured from children or anyone other them themselves accessing them.

Did any of the articles say what reason was given for a loaded unsecured gun to be lying around atop the piano during a slumber party with a housefull of rambunctious teenage girls???

Who does that?

Potato chips = check
Dip = check
Videos = check
sleeping bags = check
loaded gun lying around = check??
 
bad gun owners. Anyone who has firearms needs to take a close look at where they keep them, and whether they are secured from children or anyone other them themselves accessing them.

Did any of the articles say what reason was given for a loaded unsecured gun to be lying around atop the piano during a slumber party with a housefull of rambunctious teenage girls???

Who does that?

Potato chips = check
Dip = check
Videos = check
sleeping bags = check
loaded gun lying around = check??

I do feel for the guy if the gun was in his home office or some other room where the girls were not supposed to be. He got the holster as a gift and tried it to see if the gun fit.

He may not have even been in on the decision to let some friends sleep over, and the door to that room may have been shut or the room off limits. I know my bedroom and my husband's office are absolutely off limits to friends, and even my 10yo knows that. There aren't any guns, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be held responsible for what might be left out - including dangerous tools in my crafting area.

For all we know, he left the gun in his office, shut the door, went to work, and came home to this nightmare.

Yes, I feel for this girl having to live with the horror for the rest of her life, but don't you think this man feels terrible too? He obviously has a daughter the same age, it could easily have been her, and he lives in the house where it happened. Same goes for the mom who may have allowed the slumber party and wasn't quite stern enough about where they were allowed. Or the girl whose house it was who maybe didn't tell her friends not to go in there. Why doesn't anyone feel bad for them?

14 is old enough in many states to have an abortion without parental consent and old enough to be charged as an adult in a serious crime. "Assuming" the gun wasn't loaded is an incredibly dumb thing to do, and even if it wasn't loaded you DON'T point a gun at anyone/anything you aren't willing to kill. 14 is old enough to know that, and certainly old enough not to go around touching stuff that isn't hers or going into rooms where she wasn't invited.
 
Things like this is why I hate that ol' saying "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Well, if the gun wasn't there and loaded the person would not have been killed!


I had the exact opposite reaction to the headline. Seriously, the gun didn't hop up and kill the girl. The gun is just a tool unless someone picks it up and pulls the trigger.

I mean, who does THAT?
 
I had the exact opposite reaction to the headline. Seriously, the gun didn't hop up and kill the girl. The gun is just a tool unless someone picks it up and pulls the trigger.

I mean, who does THAT?

Children. Teenagers.
 

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