Authorities in Anchorage, Alaska, are investigating the death of 30-year-old Army veteran who was shot while taking photographs Saturday at a shooting range known as the Gravel Pits.
State troopers say Adam Malaby somehow ended up in the line of fire while taking photographs and was struck by an individual shooting a .40-caliber pistol. When police arrived on the scene about 10:30 p.m., someone was performing CPR on Malaby, who was medflighted to the hospital. However, efforts to save him failed and Malaby was pronounced dead by medical staff.
The incident remains under investigation, but some local residents say they weren’t surprised to hear of the accident, as the Gravel Pits has a somewhat tainted reputation.
“I figured it was only a matter of time,” said local resident James Meyers. “With all that goes on up there, so many people shooting and so many indiscriminate directions without really any rules or guidelines.”
Another resident, Dillon Barron, citing a lack of safety, said he no longer goes to the Gravel Pits, which isn’t an actual, bona fide shooting range.
“I have had cases where people have fired guns in my direction from behind me,” Barron told reporters. “There’s usually never a firing line established and other shooters fail to communicate with one another if they have to go downrange. This is where it gets dangerous. Add alcohol and ATV riders to the mix, and you can easily see how it’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Meyers also talked of alcohol and drug use at the Gravel Pits, however, authorities have not said whether those things may have played a part in Malaby’s death.
[ KTVA ]
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