MONTROSE, Iowa—Authorities say a 15-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed herself at a gun club in Iowa.
Lee County sheriff’s officials say deputies and medics were called around 10:40 a.m. on March 24 to the Tri-State Gun Club outside Montrose, a community about 80 miles south of Iowa City.
The emergency crews found Haley McManus suffering from a gunshot wound. The girl later died at a hospital.
ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING: A Tri-State community shaken after a teen dies following an accident at a gun range https://t.co/LDpByYgDq0
— Jim Roberts (@Jim_WGEM) March 25, 2019
Sheriff Stacy Weber said Monday that Haley was accompanied by her father and that both were target shooting.
Weber’s office says the incident is being treated as an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. No crime or negligence is suspected.
“The Lee County Sheriff’s Office wishes to extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Haley during this traumatic time,” Weber said according to Pencitycurrent.com
Local teen dies in Sunday shooting accident https://t.co/6gD0Z9fg5I pic.twitter.com/Nc9LIjTg5n
— Pen City Current (@pencitycurrent) March 25, 2019
Fort Madison High School Principal Greg Smith said the incident is not connected to any school event of the trap shooting team. “It’s our understanding, that this was kind of a regular thing for her and her dad to go out to the range,” Smith said.
The teen lived in nearby Fort Madison. Autopsy results are pending.
A phone number listed for the gun club rang unanswered Monday.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported on Monday that the person reported shot at the Tri-State Gun Club at 2309 280th Street in Montrose died from her injuries. https://t.co/ENqP04nRWp
— Daily Gate City (@DailyGateCity) March 25, 2019
Accidental Shootings
Far fewer Americans fall victim to firearm accidents than some two decades ago, even though people own more guns, according to new data.
Accidental firearm discharges killed 486 people in 2017, down more than 50 percent since 1997, according to mortality data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Decreased popularity of hunting, improved trauma care, and gun safety education campaigns have likely helped decreased the fatalities.
Incidents of unintentional firearms deaths are directly related to more guns, according to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
The mortality rate was 7 times higher in the four states with the most guns compared to the four states with the fewest guns, the Center said.
From 2006-2016, almost 6,885 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings. In 2016 alone, there were 495 incidents of accidental firearm deaths, according to Aftermath.
It says in the United States, over 1.69 million kids age 18 and under are living in households with loaded and unlocked firearms, setting the scene for possible tragedy if firearms are not locked and stored properly.
