Father Accidentally Kills Son Outside Pennsylvania Gun Store

Police said the gun went off as Joseph Loughrey, 44 (pictured), and his son Craig were getting into their car outside the Twigs Reloading Den in Mercer, PA.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Loughrey told police he had emptied the magazine of his 9-millimeter Taurus handgun, and he didn’t know there was a bullet in the chamber. The gun discharged and his son was struck in the chest.

State police said Loughrey was cooperative and distraught during questioning, the newspaper reported.

“I know that little kid was everything to him,” Mark McLaughlin, Loughrey’s friend and co-worker, told the newspaper.

State Police Lt. Eric Hermick told the Tribune-Review that the man could face such charges as manslaughter and negligence.

By: Cheston Catalano

Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.