A Florida man reportedly shot himself in the arm and didn’t notice until two days later.
According to an incident report from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, 37-year-old Michael Blevins of Deltona, Florida, was cleaning his revolver in his living room on May 5 when he loaded the cylinder with the gun propped on his chest to prevent his dog from jumping on the weapon, Reuters reports. Blevins said his back suddenly gave out due to an injury he had previously sustained, causing him to fall and hit his head on a nearby table.
The gun accidentally fired during the mishap.
According to Blevins, the blow to his head likely distracted him from the gunshot wound. He said he also takes pain medication for the back injury, which likely dulled his immediate pain.
Blevins told a sheriff’s deputy that he did not even notice the bleeding until he removed the black shirt he was wearing and put on a brown one, which became stained with the blood seeping from his wound.
Blevins then took himself to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial on May 7, and the hospital staff reported the incident to the sheriff’s office.
It is estimated that there have been in excess of 18,000 incidents of gun violence in the United States in the year 2016, according to Gun Violence Archive. A total of 865 of those have been classified as “accidental shootings,” both reported and verified. There have reportedly been over 4,500 deaths so far this year in relation to gun violence, with the total number of injuries hovering around 9,400.
The site sources its stats from 1,500 sources daily. Those numbers reportedly reflect a subset of all information collected and do not necessarily add up to 100 percent of total incidents.
When pressed for comment, Blevins did not immediately respond, Reuters notes. However, a woman who answered the phone at Blevin’s residence and identified herself as Lila said Blevins is disabled and that she is his emergency contact. No word yet on what type of disability Blevins suffers from.
According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the case remains closed without any charges pending.
Sources: Reuters, Gun Violence Archive
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