Man Who Used Rifle As Crutch Kills Neighbor By Accident

An Oregon man who used his rifle as a crutch to get off the couch accidentally killed a neighbor that lived upstairs.

Jon Andrew Meyer Jr. said that the gun went off accidentally at his friends apartment, burst through the ceiling and shot the 5-year-old girl in the upstairs. Police still arrested the man and charged him with manslaughter, assault and unlawful possession of a machine gun.

It was unclear what Meyer was doing with the rifle inside the apartment, but court records say that his fiance, Victoria Kohout, kicked him out of her place and got a restraining order against him.

Kohout told police that Meyer was a big teddy bear, but her petition for a restraining order said something different about him. In the restraining order, she described him as an unpredictable drug addict who threatened her with a gun.

Kohout also claimed that Meyer threatened to burn down her house, break the windows on her car and slash her tires.

Lori Nelson, a woman who lives down the block, said the noise of the gunfire startled her and that she saw Meyer running down the driveway. Nelson also heard a lot of screaming and saw the little girl’s mother come outside with the child in her arms.

“She looked up at me and said, `Please, help my baby,” Nelson said.

Kohout is being held in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a gun went off on accident. In May, a 5-year-old Kentucky boy accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a.22-caliber rifle he got for his birthday.

The little boy was playing with the gun when it went off and fatally shot his sister.

“In this part of the country, it’s not uncommon for a 5-year-old to have a gun or for a parent to pass one down to their kid,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory said.

What do you think should happen to the man who used his rifle as a crutch? Does he deserve jail time?

[Image via Shuttershock]