In what police reports call an “accidental” shooting — as if a dog could actually grab a gun and shoot someone intentionally — a 7-month-old Yellow Lab puppy named Molly apparently shot a 44-year-old woman named Tina Springer in Oklahoma last Thursday.
Molly was in the backseat and Springer was in the front passenger seat in a pickup truck driven by Brent Parks, 79, that was stopped at a railroad crossing. Spooked by the passing train, Molly jumped onto the console between the two front seats, causing a loaded .22 caliber handgun tucked beneath it to fire. Springer was shot in the thigh.
Parks called 911. “The dog [expletive] stepped on [the gun] and it went off,” he calmly told the operator.
“The dog shot her?” the operator asked, understandably sounding a wee bit suspicious.
“Yeah,” Parks replied. He said Springer, who could be heard moaning, was “bleeding pretty bad.” He was told to use his belt as a tourniquet. The Enid Police Department and Life EMS soon arrived, and Springer was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The good news is that Springer had surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. No one else was hurt. Molly apparently will not be charged with attempted murder. But what’s scary is that according to KFOR, police found three shell casings inside the truck, and the serial number on the gun had been scratched off.
While this case is being investigated, Deans, who told authorities the gun isn’t usually loaded, should definitely put that firearm away in a safe place.
It’s also pretty disturbing that in the video below, Molly is on a chain attached to a tree. Let’s hope it was only temporary. According to the Humane Society of the United States, “An otherwise friendly and docile dog, when kept continuously chained or intensively confined in any way, becomes neurotic, unhappy, anxious and often aggressive.” …And we already know just what Molly is capable of, har har.
Molly’s family “vows to steer clear of trains” in the future, KFOR reports. Hopefully they’ll also steer clear of keeping loaded guns in dangerous places — and they won’t chain their young dog.