Shooting Instructor Dies After Being Accidentally Shot In The Head By Student

HOLLISTON, MA - JANUARY 23: Students, including April and Kevin Mach, use laser-pointer guns in a basic firearms safety class at Mass Firearms School, on January 23, 2013 in Holliston, Massachusetts. The laser guns h... HOLLISTON, MA - JANUARY 23: Students, including April and Kevin Mach, use laser-pointer guns in a basic firearms safety class at Mass Firearms School, on January 23, 2013 in Holliston, Massachusetts. The laser guns help students learn how to aim at a target. The class costs $100 and is required before getting a permit to have a gun in the state. Students learn about gun laws and gun safety and also get an opportunity to shoot a few different types of firearms on the indoor shooting range. Massachusetts is one of the few states that require a license just to own a gun. (Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor MORE LESS
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An Arizona shooting instructor has died after being accidentally shot in the head by a 9-year-old student Monday morning.

Mohave County Sheriff’s officials told the Associated Press that the 39-year-old shooting instructor was injured at about 10 a.m. at an outdoor range in Dolan Springs, Ariz. He was then airlifted to a medical center in Las Vegas, where he died later that night.

Sheriff Jim McCabe told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the girl, who was vacationing from New Jersey with her parents, had safely fired a 9 mm Uzi several times in the “single-shot” mode.

The firearm was put into “fully automatic” mode the next time she fired, McCabe said, with the instructor, identified as Charles Vacca, standing to her left. The weapon recoiled and she lost control of the Uzi while firing an undetermined number of rounds. Vacca suffered at least one gunshot to the head.

“The guy just dropped,” McCabe told the Review-Journal.

No charges would be filed, the sheriff said.

This post has been updated.

Notable Replies

  1. Okay, first off: Whose bright idea was it to let a 9-year old handle a weapon? Anybody want to bet it was Dad, and Dad has an NRA sticker on his pickup truck/muscle car/minivan?

  2. What the hell is a 9 year old girl doing with a gun???

  3. Probably one of those pink ‘Cricket’ models - covered with rainbow farting unicorns and little princess stickers.

  4. Just think, this little girl will carry this with her the rest of her life.

  5. Many critical details are missing in the article. For example:

    Was the instructor black?
    Was he wearing a hoodie?
    Was the girl standing her ground?
    Which one was the bad guy with the gun?

    Can’t pass judgment until we have all the facts.

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