Uzi Was 'Too Much,' Girl Said After Fatal Gun Range Accident - East Idaho News
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Uzi Was ‘Too Much,’ Girl Said After Fatal Gun Range Accident

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GETTY 090214 UziMachineGun?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409691046067iStock/Thinkstock(KINGMAN, Ariz.) — The 9-year-old girl who accidentally shot her gun instructor when she lost control of a powerful Uzi submachine gun dropped the weapon and complained that it was “too much” for her to handle, according to a police report of the incident released Tuesday.

The girl’s parents huddled around her as she gripped her shoulder that she said was injured by the gun’s powerful recoil after she fired the automatic weapon at Bullets and Burgers gun range in Arizona. The girl’s parents comforted their injured daughter, not realizing at that point that she had fatally shot her instructor, Charles Vacca.

The girl’s mother told police that she saw her daughter drop the gun before turning towards her parents and telling them “the gun was too much for her and it hurt her shoulder.”

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office has released their incident report, which includes descriptions of the shooting from both of the girl’s parents.

“[The girl’s mother] said no one knew Vacca was shot until the other instructor ran over,” the report reads.

Vacca was identified in the report as a range master at the facility and he had been working with the New Jersey family while they were on vacation in Las Vegas.

One of Vacca’s colleagues, a range instructor, told police that he was standing by when the shooting happened and he saw the girl, whose name was redacted from the police report because of her age, shoot the mini 9 mm Uzi.

The instructor “saw the girl start to shoot the weapon and due to the recoil, the weapon went straight up in the air and crossed the path where Charles had his head,” the report states.

The instructor rushed to Vacca’s side after he collapsed and began applying pressure to the head wound. The girl’s father said that their first indication that something was wrong only came when the instructor ran over to Vacca.

The incident was filmed by the girl’s parents as they stood behind both she and Vacca and recorded her on their iPhone. The girl’s mother shared that video with police as soon as they spoke with her at the gun range’s restaurant.

No charges have been filed in the case and responding officers noted that they believed it was an accidental shooting. The range allows anyone above the age of 8 to shoot automatic weapons if the instructor believes they are suitable.


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