Gun Dropped: One Bullet Strikes Four At Walmart

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Sorry, my bad.” That’s what Michael Walton told the three people he accidentally shot at Walmart, when his gun dropped down the leg of his pants. The incident happened Sunday in Lovejoy, Georgia. Thankfully, none of the shoppers were seriously injured but the chain will soon be selling Kevlar socks, as must have shopping apparel.

Gun in his waistband

Sergeant Akeem Turnbull with the Lovejoy Police Department reminds conceal carry permit holders that your waistband is not an appropriate place to carry your gun. He calls that “an unsafe manner.

Four people were ambulanced out of a Walmart store in Lovejoy, Georgia, on Sunday, August 21. Things got interesting rather suddenly, around 12:20 p.m. That’s when the handgun in 29-year-old Michael Walton’s waistband slipped.

The loaded weapon wasn’t holstered, just stuffed in Walton’s pants. “The gun slipped down his leg, he attempted to grab it, and was somehow manipulating the weapon and discharged the firearm.

He’ll think twice about doing that because he shot himself in the leg. The bullet didn’t stop there. It decided to go shopping.

The first thing they teach in gun safety class is beware the deadly “ricochet.” That’s exactly what happened here. “The bullet then began to ricochet around the Walmart location, striking three other shoppers.

All were said to have “sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were given medical attention.” The good news is the bullet stayed low to the ground as it whizzed back and forth.

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Charged with reckless conduct

One of the victims also got hit in the leg,” Turnbull related to local press. “The other one got hit in the back of the leg and the other one got some bruising. All of them were towards the lower portions of the bodies.” After Walton had his wound cleaned and stitched up tight, they booked him into Clayton County Jail.

He’s facing charges of reckless conduct but that’s a whole lot less serious than manslaughter. There is no word about the legal status of his gun and no charges are listed specifically about the way he was carrying it.

One local was on his way there when he got a call from his daughter. “She was afraid that I might be over here because I come over here almost every day.

The town has less than 6,500 people so everyone pretty much knows everyone else, at least on sight. Gun violence seems to go with the territory in the small town.

the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes it’s surprising that such a small community should be hit with two gun incidents, both at Walmart, practically back-to-back.

In mid-July, “two men reportedly kidnapped an 18-year-old woman at gunpoint in the shopping center’s parking lot, breaking her car window and brandishing a firearm before dragging her away.” She got away and her captors didn’t.

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