A Texas county commissioner will spend one year on probation for accidentally shooting his grandson during a Nebraska wedding he was officiating.
Michael Gardner, 63, of Odessa, Texas, was sentenced Monday for misdemeanor child abuse in the September 2023 shooting. His grandson, then 12, survived the shoulder wound.
“It’s something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life,” said Gardner, who was recently reelected as a county commissioner in Ector County in Texas.
The shooting happened when Gardner pulled out a revolver, intending to fire a blank round into the air to signal the start of the outdoor ceremony near the small town of Denton in southeastern Nebraska. But as he was cocking the gun’s hammer, it fired, hitting the now 13-year-old boy.
Yes, that is also true, and imo he should have gotten a far more harsh punishment. Not only did he almost kill someone he undoubtedly gave at the bare minimum the child life long ptsd.