Man, 21, shot in leg after filming movie

8/29/2011

An amateur action film ended with a rushed trip to the hospital Friday when one of the actors picked up what he thought was a prop gun and fired a real 45-caliber bullet into his friend’s leg.

Tracci M. King, 21, and friends had just wrapped up their shoot-’em-up flick at 9:15 p.m., in which they wielded realistic-looking toy guns, according to a police report. One of the friends, a 21-year-old who has a concealed-carry weapon license, laid down his loaded, semiautomatic .45-caliber pistol on an end table and walked out of the living room in the 289th Street home.

Several prop guns were still strewn about the room when Randy Schimmel, 21, unknowingly picked up the real pistol and pulled the trigger. Mr. King, who was sitting on a couch across the room uploading the video footage onto a laptop computer, was shot in the left leg.

A witness called 911 and drove Mr. King to Toledo Hospital for treatment. The police report did not identify any of the witnesses or the man who owned the gun.

Police said both Mr. King and Mr. Schimmel cooperated with authorities and recounted the story in the same way. Witnesses also corroborated the story. No arrests were made and the shooting was classified as accidental, though authorities continue to investigate.