Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Arizona Gun Instructor’s Death
According to Reuters, an Arizona gun instructor was fatally shot by a 9-year-old girl with an Uzi submachine gun in 2014. The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the range and its owner.
Details of the Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Charles Vacca, Jr. was the Arizona gun instructor that was fatally shot. His family claims Bullets and Burgers Corp acted negligently during the August 2014 accidental shooting at the outdoor facility in White Hills, Arizona. Vacca’s wife, Stephanie Vacca, claims that the girl received very little instruction on firing the Uzi and should have never been given the gun.
The lawsuit alleges, “The Uzi was an inappropriate and unsafe weapon to trust a 9-year-old girl with. As a result of that, this creates an unreasonably dangerous and unsafe environment for individuals in the area, including Charles J. Vacca, Jr.”
Vacca was showing the young girl how to fire the high-powered weapon when the gun recoiled and she lost control of the Uzi. He was then struck by one round and later died.
The shooting created a nationwide debate on if children should be allowed to handle such firearms. The shooting was ruled as an industrial accident and no criminal charges were filed.
There was a video released by the sheriff’s office of the moments before the shooting that showed Vacca giving the young girl hands-on lessons as she aimed the Uzi at a target. In the video, he is encouraging the girl and telling her to fire one shot before telling her: “All right, full auto.” After this, the weapon releases multiple rounds as the video cuts off. According to authorities, moments later Vacca was shot.
Statistics of Accidental Shootings by Children
According to The Washington Post, at least 265 children under the age of 18 picked up a firearm and accidentally shot themselves or someone else with it in 2015.
That works out to about five accidental shootings by children each week during the year 2015. Out of the 265 accidental shootings, 83 of them ended in death. The underage shooters killed themselves 41 times and other people 42 times.
It is being stressed that this number is an undercount. There are about 30 more shooting cases that are being worked on verifying for the year 2015.
