An elected Republican official in Texas reportedly shot his own grandson by accident during a wedding.
Michael Gardner, who reportedly serves as a commissioner in Ector County, Texas, was trying to signal the beginning of his nephew's wedding with the firearm, according to the Washington Post's report.
"Michael Gardner wanted to start his nephew’s wedding with a bang," the outlet reported Wednesday.
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The Washington Post continued:
"His plan involved shooting a blank from a revolver into the air to signal to the roughly 200 people gathered on Saturday that the outdoor ceremony, which he was officiating, was about to begin. But when Gardner cocked back the hammer of the gun, it slipped, and the homemade blank that he had used, which was closed off with glue, fired from the Pietta 1860 snub-nose revolver that he had borrowed, he said."
It ended up harming his own grandson.
"As the bride was about to walk down the aisle, what was supposed to be a day of love in Denton, Neb., turned into one of unexpected panic: The wedding officiant accidentally shot his 12-year-old grandson in the shoulder," the report states. "Despite the shooting, Gardner finished officiating the wedding."
Gardner reportedly told the news agency that "he regretted using a homemade blank; it was the first time he had done so."
"He acknowledged that the gun did not belong to him and that he had not used the firearm before it was accidentally discharged," the article states.
It also says that Gardner is seeing some consequences already.
"Gardner has been charged with felony child abuse committed negligently and resulting in serious bodily injury," the report says. "Gardner — an elected Republican official who has served as a commissioner in Ector County, Tex., since 2021 — said he turned himself in on Monday and was released on a $10,000 bond."
