Darwin Awards candidate?

OK, one must actually die in a phenomenally stupid fashion in order to earn a Darwin Award, but I do believe honorary mentions are bestowed upon people who manage to survive despite their, er, phenomenally flawed DNA.

*****

From the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office:

On July 3, 2008 at approximately 0120 hours, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center received a cellular 911 call of an accidental shooting that occurred at a residence in the 10000 block of Highway 20 in Potter Valley, near the Lake/Mendocino County line.

The caller reported that an adult female and adult male had been shot as the result of an accident.

When deputies arrived, they found the 43-year-old female lying partially inside and partially outside of a travel trailer. The female had a through-and-through gunshot wound to her right knee. They also found a 42-year-old male adult with a superficial wound to the front of his groin area and a bullet hole in his pants.

Based on statements and physical evidence gathered at the scene, it was determined that the female was carrying a .44 magnum single-action revolver in a holster under her left arm. She stepped into the small travel trailer and had the intent to shoot mice that were apparently scurrying around on the floor of the trailer. When she went to draw the revolver from the holster, the revolver slipped out and fell to the floor. Upon impact with the floor, the revolver fired one shot, which passed through her right kneecap, then continued upward and traveled across the front of the male’s pants, where it struck a set of keys that were hanging from his belt loop. The bullet then glanced off the keys and tore a hole in the male’s pants, and continued to travel between the pants and a pair of shorts he was wearing. The bullet came to rest when it entered the coin pocket of the male’s pants, where it was recovered for evidence.

The female was transported by ground ambulance to the Ukiah Valley Medical Center for treatment.

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You read that correctly: a woman attempted to shoot a mouse with a .44 Magnum. In a travel trailer, no less.

I bet it took Lt. Smallcomb a long time to write that press release. I can’t imagine how hard he must have been laughing. “I’m sorry, Sergeant. Can you explain the bullet trajectory one more time? Better yet, can you draw me a graph?”