Findlay man second in area to die at a child's hand

FINDLAY - Bradley Hammer was showing his 7-year-old son how to shoot a 22-caliber rifle in the backyard of their home when the Findlay man was fatally shot in the head.

Mr. Hammer, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident Monday afternoon marked the second time in recent weeks that an area youngster accidentally shot and killed an adult.

Last month, Frank Graziani, Jr., 21, of rural Defiance died at Toledo Hospital about four hours after he was shot in his home.

Defiance County sheriff's deputies said he had been showing a shotgun to a 12-year-old boy and then went into another room. Deputies said the boy, thinking the gun was unloaded, pulled the trigger. The discharge went through a wall and struck Mr. Graziani in the right side.

It's unclear just what happened in the Findlay case.

Sgt. Tom Blunk of the Hancock County Sheriff's Office said yesterday that he still was conducting interviews.

"We're waiting for the autopsy to confirm anything," he said.

"I'd rather wait until we had that to make any assumptions" about what happened.

Mr. Hammer's two children - ages 7 and 5 - as well as a neighbor boy ran to a neighbor's house about 12:30 p.m. to say that Mr. Hammer had been shot. The neighbor called 911, telling the dispatcher that Mr. Hammer appeared to be deceased and the gun was lying near him.

Sergeant Blunk said the shooting appeared to be accidental. Mr. Hammer was recently divorced and had shared custody of his son and daughter, court records show.

"It's a very tragic, tragic incident," Sergeant Blunk said.

Dr. Mark Fox, Hancock County coroner, said an autopsy was to be performed today by the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

Matt Ortman, hunter education coordinator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said only parents can determine when their child is mature enough to handle a gun.

There is no minimum age in Ohio for residents to obtain a hunting license if they successfully complete a hunter-education course, he said.

"We certainly tend to believe that each individual parent or adult really needs to determine when a child is mature enough to do that," Mr. Ortman said. "I'm very cautious about saying you would have to be X age before you would be able to do that because certainly every child is different."

Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said he is not opposed to families introducing hunting or sport-shooting traditions to their children, but, he said, there always are associated risks.

There are always "safer things to do with your children," he said.

"The bottom line is going out with a loaded gun is not like throwing a Frisbee with your kid. It's not like having a catch with a baseball," Mr. Everitt said. "A gun is an inherently dangerous item, and if you make a mistake it can be a mistake you might not come back from."

Mr. Hammer was a 1989 graduate of Fremont Ross High School. He had been employed since 1989 at Whirlpool Corp. in Clyde, Ohio, and Findlay.

He was a volunteer firefighter in Hancock County's Allen Township.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:

jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.