Huffington Post
Volunteer civilian "guards" have been kicked off the grounds outside a military recruiting center in Lancaster, Ohio, after one of them accidentally fired his weapon.
No one was injured.
"Listen, it was a mistake. No one was injured and I owned up to it immediately with
the police," 28-year-old Christopher Reed, who is accused of firing the
shot, told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. "I'm glad no one was hurt. I am
willing to take the punishment."
His gun was confiscated pending a court appearance next week.
Armed volunteers have been turning up at military recruiting centers since the shooting deaths of four marines and a sailor last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They say they want to protect recruiters, who are not armed.
“They won’t give these guys any weapons to carry or keep in a safe.
If we don’t do it, who is going to do it?" armed volunteer and Marine
veteran Kenneth Casteel, who had been keeping watch over the recruiting
center where the shot was fired, told the Columbus Dispatch prior to the
incident. "It’s a matter of safety.”
Reed was apparently trying to clear the ammunition in his AR-15 rifle when he accidentally fired a shot into the ground, according to WCBE, an NPR station in central Ohio.
"I was out here and was talking to a guy who wanted to look at my
AR-15," Reed told the Eagle-Gazette. "I was trying to clear the weapon
and hand it over to him when it went off. I thought it was empty and
must have missed it."
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