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Florida man accidentally shoots, kills son-in-law who was trying to surprise him for his birthday: Sheriff

Lundren

Lundren

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,745

The incident began when 37-year-old Christoper Bergan, who lives in Norway, arrived at a Florida airport around 11 p.m. Tuesday and then headed directly to his father-in-law's house in the Pensacola area, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said at a news conference on Thursday.
Dennis heard banging on the back door at 11:30 p.m. and turned on the porch light, Johnson said.

Bergan then jumped "out of the shadows," Johnson said, leaping out from the bushes and making a growling sound, which scared Dennis.
Dennis fired one round, "striking Mr. Bergan, killing him instantly," Johnson said.
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Don't worry folks, this poor frightened homeowner will no face any charges.

"No charges are warranted," the sheriff said, calling the shooting a "horrible accident."
"Anybody who is religious out there, you need to pray for this family," the sheriff said. "I can't imagine what they're going through... it's horrible."
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If this story sounds familiar, it's because it is:

www.newsweek.com

Mother Shoots Daughter After She Came Home From College to Surprise Her

Girard Police said it is not known if the woman will face charges after shooting the 18-year-old in the arm.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

In the thread about that story people made a lot of jokes about announcing yourself before talking a dump in the middle of the night. Some wondered how these responsible gun owners would react to surprise parties. We didn't have to wait too long to find out.
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,010
Wrexham, Wales
That is just so fucking sad and upsetting all around. Jesus Christ. Guns are a fucking cancer.

The whole frontier mentality of "this is my castle I must defend it" needs to stay in the Old West where it belongs. Melt all the guns while you're at it.
 
El_TigroX

El_TigroX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,218
New York, NY
Starting to think while this is a gun problem... this is also an issue of people being scared to death by nothing at all.

If someone growling through a door makes you fear for your life... come on now.
 
Hyun Sai

Hyun Sai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,562
That jumping and growling sounds definitely like what a criminal / thief would do entering your house. But what the hell, shoot first, mourn/pray later.
 
olag

olag

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,106
You know......Im starting to think America has a gun problem. Don't know why though.
 
Mcfrank

Mcfrank

Member
Oct 28, 2017
15,219
El_TigroX said:
Starting to think while this is a gun problem... this is also an issue of people being scared to death by nothing at all.

If someone growling through a door makes you fear for your life... come on now.
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Gun nuts have power fantasies where everyone is out to get them and only they and their gun are around to stop the evil. When all you have is a gun, everything you see is a threat.
 
Pirateluigi

Pirateluigi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,871
Accidental? Sounds like they were shooting to kill. Nothing accidental except the identity of the person murdered.
 
Snake Eater

Snake Eater

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,385
Can't imagine what that family is going through now, probably never getting over this
 
GlowingBovine

GlowingBovine

Prophet of Truth
Member
Nov 27, 2017
790
Oh man I can only imagine what the daughter (I'm assuming?) Is going though, with her dad killing her husband. Such a needless death, guns were a mistake.
 
GaimeGuy

GaimeGuy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,092
"No charges are warranted," the sheriff said, calling the shooting a "horrible accident."
"Anybody who is religious out there, you need to pray for this family," the sheriff said. "I can't imagine what they're going through... it's horrible."
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The prayers don't seem to be working. Maybe we should try something different?
 
OP
OP
Lundren

Lundren

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,745
It's a pretty short article, so I didn't want to quote too much of it, but earlier in the evening, a different family member had "banged" on this guy's front door, and had an "altercation."

Which, if this had happened to me, would have put me in a frame of mind that this family member was back, and not some threat.
 
Garlador

Garlador

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
14,131
I would hate to live my life in such paranoia that I'd be ready to fire my gun at every noise I heard...
 
Chopchop

Chopchop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,171
That's awful.

And it would have been totally preventable if "pull your gun and shoot on sight" wasn't the default reaction drilled into these people by gun culture.
 
Failburger

Failburger

Banned
Dec 3, 2018
2,455
That's the problem with guns. Every creak, squeak, every rustle, every bump, and every thump becomes a potential robber and crap like this happens.
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Snake Eater said:
Can't imagine what that family is going through now, probably never getting over this
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I imagine the shooter is pretty proud of himself. It happened earlier in the night with another relative, but he didn't shoot the first one.

The sheriff noted that, earlier that night, another one of Dennis' relatives came to his home at 9:30 p.m. and started banging on his front door in the same manner.
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Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,771
Pretty much told people give thoughts and prayers, but nevermind that a man killed another man and gets off scot-free.
 

Lightus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,138
My area is the type where something like this could happen. Guns and "protecting your family" etc are so prevalent that people generally half joke about it. "Don't show up past unannounced past 10 or you might get shot!". This mutually agreed upon mentally creates a situation where if someone is on your property past dark most people will assume that they're a threat or up to no good, the fact that they're there unannounced is proof enough in their mind because no friend or family member would be hiding in the bushes as they would know the risks. All it takes though is one person not knowing and buying into that mentally to have a situation like the one in the article.

It's awful because it's not just a hand full of paranoid people clutching their guns out of fear, but rather whole communities who sees possible immediate leathal force as normal and everyone who doesn't agree as insane.
 
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