Texas Official Gets Probation for Accidentally Shooting Grandson at Wedding

An official in Texas will be placed on probation this week after he accidentally shot his own grandson at a wedding.
On Tuesday, 63-year-old Michael Gardner, a Texas county commissioner, was sentenced to one year of probation on charges of misdemeanor child abuse for accidentally shooting his own 12-year-old grandson while officiating a wedding in Nebraska last year.
The incident occurred when Gardner pulled out a revolver to fire a blank round into the air, signaling the start of an outdoor ceremony near the small town of Denton in southeastern Nebraska. While cocking the gun’s hammer, it accidentally discharged, striking the now-13-year-old boy.
Gardner was officiating his nephew’s wedding at an outdoor venue roughly 10 miles southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. He explained that he had crafted the blank round himself, using an empty shell, black gunpowder and hot glue to assemble it.
According to the Lincoln Journal Star, the boy suffered a wound that measured roughly eight centimeters long and four centimeters wide. The wound also extended into the boy’s muscle, causing muscle and tissue loss.
“It’s something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life,” Gardner said. “Nobody will ever be harder on me than I will be irregardless of what I get here.”
Gardner was recently reelected as county commissioner in Texas’s Ector County.
Gardner was originally charged with felony second-degree assault but reached a plea deal in July, agreeing to a reduced misdemeanor charge after pleading no contest.
In response to the incident, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Eric Miller said he was concerned that Gardner or any individual would bring a firearm to a wedding.
“I get this is not some shoot-up at the convenience store or anything like this,” Miller said. “But what he did was reckless behavior.”
“But I think as a prosecutor for the county I think you have to look at the events and how it affects the community, not just certain individuals,” Miller said, noting that it was a “rather unique situation.”
According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Gardner’s attorney, Matt Kosmicki, said his client will take responsibility for the incident and thinks about what happened every single day.
“The people that I serve and work for, they all stand behind me evidently,” Gardner said, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. “It was just a horrible accident. I don’t know what else to say about it.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.