Joshua Luke Cummings, 36, was accidentally shot dead at a shooting range in Cypress, Texas on Tuesday
A 36-year-old married father-of-three was killed on Tuesday after a gun range employee accidentally discharged a hunting rifle and shot him in in the head.
The deadly incident happened just after 9am when an unnamed male employee at the Hot Wells Shooting Range was cleaning the weapon in the small range building.
The rifle accidentally went off, sending a bullet through a wall and a window to the parking lot outside where Joshua Luke Cummings had just gotten out of his car.
Cummings was about 70 to 80 feet away.
The bullet struck Cummings in the head and he was rushed to a hospital in downtown Houston by a helicopter.
However, he didn’t make it and was pronounced dead on arrival.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office officials say they believe the shooting was an accident, and that homicide detectives are trying to determine whether the gun accidentally fired due to human error or a mechanical issue.
‘Homicide will investigate all of the employees, witnesses (and) take control of the weapon. That weapon will be investigated also to find out if there’s anything wrong with it; if there was a malfunction, or if it was human error,’ Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said.
An unnamed male employee at the Hot Wells Shooting Range was cleaning a hunting rifle when it accidentally fired and struck Cummings, who had just gotten out of his car
Cummings was struck in the head and had to be rushed to the hospital via a helicopter. He was pronounced dead once he arrived at the downtown Houston hospital where he was taken
The shooting range released a statement on Tuesday, saying they were heartbroken over the death
Shooting range employee Stacy Byrd witnessed the shooting and spoke to KTRK after. He called it a ‘terrible tragedy’.
‘I didn’t really want to see that this morning,’ Byrd said. ‘I really didn’t want to see that at all, ever.’
The shooting range released a statement on Tuesday, saying they were heartbroken over the death.
‘We apologize in advance for the brevity of this response. We simply do not have the words to express the sorrow in our hearts. For 44 years we have operated this facility accident free, yet today we are shaken by tragedy.
According to Facebook, Cummings appeared to be married with three young kids
‘There is an ongoing investigation into the circumstances that surround this accident, and until that investigation is complete we will have no comment on the accident details.
‘We understand that this accident has, and will continue to affect the lives of many. We ask that our community joins us in prayer for the healing of all parties involved,’ the statement reads.
According to Cummings’ Facebook, he appears to be married with three young kids – two daughters and a son.