Missouri teen dies after shooting at slumber party

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

NEOSHO, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri girl is dead after being shot in the head during a slumber party.

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland says 14-year-old Megan Reppond of Joplin was taken off life support Tuesday morning.

KOAM-TV reports Megan was attending a slumber party with friends at a home near Neosho on Monday night. The sheriff says another teen picked up a .38-caliber handgun that had been left on a piano and pulled the trigger. The gun turned out to be loaded, and the shot struck Megan.

The name of the other teen has not been released, and the investigation continues. The sheriff says information from the investigation will be sent to the prosecutor’s office and juvenile authorities.

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Information from: KOAM-TV, http://www.koamtv.com

More like this story

sillyrabbit 2 years, 4 months ago

More proof guns are stupid as if we needed anymore.

csnellen 2 years, 4 months ago

More poof that too many people who own guns don't use good sense when it comes to safety issues. Guns shouldn't be within reach of kids.

pdiddle53 2 years, 4 months ago

Guns are inanimate objects, people (including this owners of this gun) are stupid...

wcywing 2 years, 4 months ago

hand guns are not toys. who left a hand gun on a piano!? heart goes out to the family.

jDeeken 2 years, 4 months ago

If parents would teach their children how to safely handle firearms,most of these accidents would not happen.All firearms are considered loaded and not to be played with! This was a teenager whose ignorance killed someone.Jack Deeken

sillyrabbit 2 years, 4 months ago

Shoulda coulda woulda died along time ago. Humans have proven we're to dumb and irresponsible to be able to carry weapons capable of murder.

csnellen 2 years, 4 months ago

Almost ANYthing can be used as a weapon - are we going to forbid rocks? knives? sticks? Maybe marshmallows because we could stuff them up the nose of our enemy so they couldn't breathe?!?! MAYBE we should just try to use some good sense!? What a novel idea!

bluesfan13 2 years, 4 months ago

--This was a teenager whose ignorance killed someone.--

Yes, the teenager was ignorant concerning guns and safety, but I'd argue that this was more the responsibility of the gun owner who didn't keep control of their gun and let it fall into the hands of someone who had no business holding it.

gofish 2 years, 4 months ago

It's the gun owner's fault for leaving the gun accessible to kids. And the kid's fault for picking it up. However, a single accident shouldn't prompt a public outcry for getting rid of guns. Otherwise we should get rid of other lethal weapons...cars, alcohol, baseball bats, etc. Where does it end? The truth is, not every bad thing can be prevented from happening. We don't live in a child proof world and tragic accidents like this are going to happen. Not often. But they will happen. God have mercy on everyone involved.

TheRickster 2 years, 4 months ago

Rabbit,I feel you speak for yourself and I will take your word for it. But I happen to live on the other side of that fence and the whole story may be a bit more to it than is being told. Teaching young folks about weapons will decrease the curiosity and save much heart ache. If a weapon,,loaded or not was just left out in that manor,,they should be held libel.In my opinion!

sillyrabbit 2 years, 4 months ago

You can sit here and lay blame and say who's fault it was all day if you want that doesn't change the fact that an innocent 14 year old is dead does it?

Ban handguns.

TheRickster 2 years, 4 months ago

Maybe we should have banned whatever Cain killed Able with. I know it wasn't a handgun. Power tools are dangerous also. You can't blame an object on an incident anymore than you can blame your car for driving drunk!

gzc721 2 years, 4 months ago

I agree with you. Let's go get that rock that Cain smacked Able around with and then find all of the ones like it and never, ever allow anyone to have the use of them again! Absurd!!

herewego 2 years, 4 months ago

Banning handguns is not the answer, several cities in the USA have done that, and the ONLY people that had handguns were the criminals. Don't want that either. Guns don't kill, people do. The owner of the handgun is liable, and should face the full consequences. Maybe sillyrabbit should move to one of those cities where handguns are banned and report back on the amount of crime that involves guns!

We should keep the family in our prayers for this all we can do at this time.

sillyrabbit 2 years, 4 months ago

Well why don't we just give everybody a nuclear warhead. That will solve everything!

gzc721 2 years, 4 months ago

seriously, to equate a hand gun with a nucelar warhead speaks of ignorance. As others have said the gun did nothing besides be used incorrectly by a teenager who should have been taught to not pick it up and by an owner who was too neglectful to put it away.

Guns aren't the answer, but they are not what actually kills a person. They are just the tool that is used. Education is the only way to avoid a lot of these accidents. My heart goes out to both families because one lost their child and the other has to learn to live with the fact that their child took another's life. This is a sad situation and maybe instead of ranting you should look at the bigger picture and how the families will feel.

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