Story Archive

Oh, Shoot

Larry McElroy, 54, shot his mother-in-law, authorities say — but he didn’t mean to. He was about 100 yards from her Lee County, Ga., mobile home, trying to shoot an armadillo with his 9 mm pistol. His bullet took out the creature, then ricocheted, struck a fence, proceeded through her back door and the back of her recliner, and hit her. She wasn’t seriously hurt; he wasn’t charged with any crime. “I really think,” said Bill Smith of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, “if they’re going to shoot at varmints and whatnot, maybe use a shotgun ... with a spread pattern with a lot less range.” And “another option,” WALB-TV suggested, “is using grub pesticide” to kill armadillos’ prey. (AC/WALB Albany) ...McElroy will find out whether he really got away with it next time he eats his mother-in-law’s cooking.
Original Publication Date: 26 April 2015
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 21.

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