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Flare gun accident hurts boy -- slightly
By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- A 13-year-old boy was slightly injured late Saturday night when he was accidentally shot in the head with a flare gun by his 13-year-old cousin, a Pasco County sheriff's report said. Larry Ray Huckelby Jr. and Michael Lee Lethco Jr. were at Lethco's house on Amberlea Road, and Huckelby was working on a fishing reel in the kitchen in anticipation of a fishing trip the next morning. Around 11:40 p.m., Lethco was looking at the gun in a nearby bedroom. He told deputies he thought he had all the flares in his pocket. But when he pulled the trigger, a flare fired across the room, into the kitchen and hit Huckelby in the head, the report said. Huckelby told deputies at Pasco Regional Medical Center that the flare hit him in the side of the head and the next thing he knew he was on the floor with a cut on the same area. The flare ricocheted off Huckelby and landed on the floor, where it set fire to a curtain and part of the wall. Raymond Ellison, 19, who was at the house, doused the fire with water. Huckelby received stitches at the hospital to close the head wound. His mother, Tammy, said he has a bruise where the flare hit him and he has a ringing in his ear that will require a followup visit to the doctor. But early Sunday morning, when she arrived at the hospital, Tammy Huckelby said her son had blood all over him and was pretty upset. "I thought it was worse than it was," she said. Huckelby said she wasn't mad at her son. He told her that just before he got shot, he told his cousin to put away the flare gun. According to the report, the two boys helped a neighbor move on Thursday when they found the flare gun. The report said Lethco asked the neighbor if he could have the gun, but was told no because it was too dangerous. Lethco told deputies that he took the gun anyway, along with four flares. The boys took turns firing the flare gun Friday, each firing one flare. Sheriff's deputies said the shooting was accidental. "Michael said he would never shoot at his cousin Larry," the report said. Tammy Huckelby said the accident was a learning experience for the boys. "It was very upsetting, but it has a happy ending," she said. "A lot of people don't realize that a flare gun can kill you." -- Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or toll free at 1-800- 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
