Illinois Man Accidentally Second Amendments Himself To Death While Showing Off Gun To Friends
An Illinois man is dead after accidentally shooting himself in the head in front of a group of friends on Sunday night while showing off his firearm. Evanston police were called to the victim’s apartment about 9:45 p.m. after receiving a call of a man who had accidentally shot himself in the head, according to the police.
According to the Evanston Review, the victim, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office as Eric Zyzanski, 31, was found “on the floor with a shotgun wound to his head. The shotgun was lying beside him,” police said.
Zyzanski was pronounced dead at a hospital about two hours later, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Zyzanski had some friends over after grilling on the second floor of his apartment building, including his girlfriend. He was showing off a small shotgun, according to Christine Edwards, the building manager.
According to the police statement, several witnesses told police they “became alarmed and told him to put it away.”
“He thought it was unloaded,” Edwards said.
According to Edwards, Zyzanski’s girlfriend called her to the apartment after the gun fired around 9:30 p.m.
Police said, “The victim ejected 2-3 rounds” from the gun, then “held the shotgun to his cheek, told his friends it was empty and pulled the trigger.”
According to authorities, the witnesses which were interviewed “gave consistent accounts of what had happened” and the “body and the evidence corroborated the witnesses’ accounts.”
Zyzanski died from a shotgun wound to the head, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to the Evanston Review, the office called Zyzanski’s death a suicide – a ruling that Edwards challenged.
“It was a tragic accident,” Edwards said.
Zyzanski’s 13-year-old son, who lives in Indiana, came to stay with him the week before.
Edwards said that the building doesn’t allow guns.
H/T: My buddy @TomCinmidlife with thanks.
mea_mark August 4th, 2014 at 7:13 pm
Always eject rounds until none come out, don’t count, there might have been one in the chamber also. How stupid can you be?
tiredoftea August 4th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
Dead stupid.
Suzanne McFly August 4th, 2014 at 7:14 pm
Ugh, I hate these stories. I am not fond of guns, but I do not believe in taking them away. These stories do not help my wish for some type of regulation, these types of stories benefit no one. I pray for this man’s family and I hope the next time someone gets the brilliant idea to hold an “empty” gun to their head, they use some common sense and make sure the damn thing isn’t loaded
tiredoftea August 4th, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Or, better yet, resist the urge to point a gun to your head! It’s a slippery slope to showing off and hitting the ground in a heap of brain matter, bone and blood.
Tommy6860 August 4th, 2014 at 8:16 pm
I really dislike these stories too, but when I see the graphic with the little boy with a gun with relevant stories here, then I get really bummed.
tiredoftea August 4th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
“It was a tragic accident,” Edwards said”, Ummm, no. It is the very definition of morbid stupidity.
Tommy6860 August 4th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
For the second amendment-ers, you’d be a cruel reality 😛
tiredoftea August 4th, 2014 at 10:23 pm
I hope so, but they are hard cases!
RioBravoHombre August 4th, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Yet another responsible ammosexual bites the dust.
Carla Akins August 4th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
Gee, I sure wish this was a rare story.
mmaynard119 August 4th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Oopsy, I hate when that……no, that hasn’t happened or else I wouldn’t be writing this.
labman57 August 4th, 2014 at 11:34 pm
Evolution in action, as yet another Darwin Award winner meets his maker.
Robert Keith Johnston August 5th, 2014 at 12:59 am
Another Darwin Award finalist!
–RKJ
jasperjava August 5th, 2014 at 1:16 am
Another “good guy with a gun” shoots and kills a “bad guy with a gun”, except that they’re one and the same.
The only positive outcome is that this idiot removed himself from the gene pool without hurting or killing anyone else. I’m sad for his 13-year old son, but I’m glad that he wasn’t the victim of this moron’s gun fetish.
greenfloyd August 5th, 2014 at 1:33 am
I have a couple of questions for the OP, Anomaly100:
1) What does this tragic event have to do with the 2nd Amendment?
2) What does the handgun and bullets have to do with the story, the gun was described as a shotgun?
jasperjava August 5th, 2014 at 3:32 am
If I may offer an answer:
1) Second-amendment absolutists believe that everyone is entitled to own guns, whether they demonstrate the required power of good judgment or not.
2) Guns are guns. You point it at someone’s head, you pull the trigger, they die. It’s that simple. We don’t have to go into the specific minutiae of what fanatical gun freaks go into over types of firearms, muzzle velocity, caliber, and all other irrelevant details. All firearms are dangerous. All should be handled only by trained people who know what they’re doing.
greenfloyd August 5th, 2014 at 3:54 am
Not to be rude, however, my questions are directed at the OP.
Eric Zyzanski is dead from self-inflicted gunshots, he pointed the gun at himself, according to the article noted above.
What I don’t understand at this point is why it’s being called a “suicide?” All the eyewitnesses claim it was an “accident.”
Gonzo T August 5th, 2014 at 9:29 am
All the news reports are smoke & mirrors for the ignorant.. Some people caught that they’re trying to rule it as a “suicide” yet eye witnesses saw it happen right? Well the truth is that these articles are all lies.. That isnt at all what happened.. I knew him from pre school & have 1st hand info on the situation.. This was no suicide & there were no witnesses.. Only people who claim to have found him there & called the police
mea_mark August 5th, 2014 at 9:42 am
Then you should talk to the police. If you have credible information don’t hold back, let it out.
greenfloyd August 5th, 2014 at 9:47 am
I read the girlfriend actually called the apartment manager at around 9:30pm and it was the manager who then called the police some fifteen minutes later.
So what really happened?
DaddyO_969 August 5th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
1st hand means ‘at the scene.’
If that’s fact, you absolutely must call the authorities, especially if you knew him.