Errant shotgun discharge cancels South Bend gun show; four people grazed by birdshot
SOUTH BEND — Mike Kronewitter of Mishawaka had set up his booth at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds and was ready to open Saturday morning at a South Bend gun show when his head and thigh was struck by shot from a shotgun that he says went off from about 20 feet away from another vendor who was handling the gun.
Kronewitter said he was struck over his eye and was shot in his thigh. Two doctors who were at the fairgrounds and EMS first responders treated him at the scene.
The gun show, advertised as a two-day event Saturday and Sunday sponsored by the Central Indiana Gun Shows LLC out of Centreville, Ind., did not go on as scheduled.
According to Ashley O'Chap, spokesperson for the South Bend Police Department, officers were called to the fairgrounds about 8:50 a.m. Saturday on reports of the incident.
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O'Chap said officers were told a person was attempting to clear a shotgun when it went off, and the discharge, which she said was birdshot, grazed four people.
No one was transported to the hospital from the scene, she said.
No one was arrested in connection with the case, O'Chap said. The facts of the case were turned over to the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office for review.
Daniel Hedger, president of Central Indiana Gun Shows, said he was in South Bend but did not see the incident happen.
Hedger said he believed the shot may have struck a table and ricocheted the shot. He said there were table fragments there as well.
When he learned of the incident, he said, police were called and he decided to cancel the show.
"We are all about firearm safety," he said. "We work hard to remind people to check their firearms," adding that there are no loaded guns at a show unless they are required by law enforcement.
Hedger said he was glad no one was seriously hurt, but he stressed that firearm owners need to be constantly vigilant when it comes to safety.
"We are all about responsibility. People always need to pay attention," he said. "I don't believe in accidents. I believe in stupidity."
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For Kronewitter, he said he was lucky that the shot did not strike his eye and that the show had not opened yet.
He said a man had been holding a shotgun and pumped it once before pulling the trigger. While Kronewitter said at most gun shows the guns have trigger locks and the vendors and sellers usually are checked by polie officers at these events, he said there was not a gun lock on the shotgun that injured him and he had not seen law enforcement at the show site either during setup on Friday or on Saturday prior to the incident.
Kronewitter said a woman and two others had been struck by the shot from the discharge.
To his knowledge, no one was taken for treatment.
"I was about 20 feet away, minding my own business," Kronewitter said. "There was a 6-inch hole through the table, and if it would have been a half-hour later, there would have been people dead."
Calls to the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair office and to Fair Board President Kristen Sikorski Conklin were not returned.
Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Shotgun blast strikes Mishawaka man and three others before gun show
