Tuesday, November 13, 2007

He sure taught that damned car a lesson though

SOUTHWORTH, Wash. (AP) -- A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, sheriff's deputies said.

The 66-year-old man had been repairing a Lincoln Continental for two weeks at his home northwest of Southworth, about 10 miles southwest of Seattle, and had gotten all but one of the lug nuts off the right rear wheel by Saturday afternoon, Kitsap County Deputy Scott Wilson said.

"He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," Wilson said.

From about arm's length, the man fired the shotgun at the wheel and was "peppered" in both legs with buckshot and debris, with some injuries as high as his chin, according to a sheriff's office report.

"Nobody else was there and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said.

The man was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with injuries Wilson described as severe but not life-threatening.

7 comments:

Sorghum Crow said...

When the only tool you have is a shotgun, everything looks like a target.

ellroon said...

Lol! I've got to remember that, that's hilarious.... and true.

Steve Bates said...

He must have succeeded: this is definitely a story about a loose nut.

Anonymous said...

Too much gun and the wrong type of ammo.

You never use birdshot on lugnuts and 12 gauge is way too heavy a load. Badtux suggested a 7.62 [AK-47] with armor piercing rounds, but a .38 +P with a full-metal jacket should be more than enough.

Of course, he could have gotten the proper sized six-sided impact socket and a breaker bar, but there's no drama in that.

ellroon said...

Ok you guys, thanks for the loose nut joke and the discussion of the proper weaponry, you guys made me laugh.

But who hasn't wanted to shoot their car... just once?

Steve Bates said...

"But who hasn't wanted to shoot their car... just once?"

Um... me?

I did want to beat my car to pieces with a lug wrench a couple of years ago when I had to change a punctured tire at midnight... in the parking lot of a Shriners temple that was near the road on which the puncture occurred... in really bad lighting... in the rain... with Stella as a passenger... but even then I didn't want to shoot it. I guess I'm just not manly enough. :)

ellroon said...

Geez, Steve. That was a nightmarish scenario. Could anything else have gone wrong?

Hope you survived with spirits intact..