Girl Mistakes Gun for Wii-mote and Gets Killed

[thekeybladewars]

This story was found at: http://current.com/items/92295514_girl-mistakes-gun-for-wii-controller-kills-herself.htm



Fatal shot to abdomen

Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan, a Tennessee girl, aged 3, accidentally killed herself on Sunday night, according to local police in Wilson County. The incident allegedly occurred after she mistook a gun for a Wii controller.
Investigators claim that the girl's stepfather, Douglas Cronberger, had left a semi-automatic weapon on the living room table, and that the child had mistaken it for a Nintendo Wii controller. The child is then said to have fatally shot herself in the abdomen. She was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead the same night.

​

Pictured: Genuine gun on top, compared to Wii peripheral on bottom
(WSMV)

​

The stepfather claims he was asleep at the time of the incident, according to authorities. The stepfather also claims the child's mother, Tina Ann Cronberger, was in the room with the child at the time of the incident. The mother was supposedly sitting at the computer, just a few feet away.
The mother has told authorities the girl might have thought she was playing with a Nintendo Wii controller that resembled a gun. According to the stepfather, the gun was out because he had heard a prowler and gotten the gun out earlier that evening. He then left the gun on the table in the living room. The gun is apparently a .380 caliber semi automatic handgun. The gun was usually kept unloaded and in a cabinet.
The child had been playing a Wii game. The game’s controller, according to authorities, was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun. Cheyenne had learned how to use a gun from playing the Wii game for days. The authorities claim the girl "pulled the gun off the table and it went off."

There are no criminal charges pending, but the sheriff's office will turn information culled in its investigation over to prosecutors.
We advise parents concerned about their child's safety regarding Wii hardware to consult Nintendo's Wii safety page.

 

[n8rockerasu]

Wow...nothing like not being a parent (granted this guy was a step-parent, but seriously). I could care less if video game peripherals look EXACTLY like real weapons. How about we don't leave loaded guns...or ANY guns lying on the coffee table while we're taking a nap? What a revolutionary ing idea! It's even worse that the mother was there. Nice to see the media already framing the situation to be more the fault of the Wii than the fault of the parents though. Pay attention to what our kids are doing? What? Why should that be necessary?

 

[Maledar]

Very poor and misleading title. A negligent person left a loaded weapon around for a 3-year old to find, and she shot herself being curious about an object that could of been placed FAR away from child and with a lock. Had nothing to do with the Wii-mote.

 

[Arakias]

What? She clearly had a Wii game on, how is that hard to get from reading the article? The title seems correct to me.

 

[Maledar]

[quote name='Arakias']What? She clearly had a Wii game on, how is that hard to get from reading the article? The title seems correct to me.[/QUOTE]

It's all speculation

The mother has told authorities the girl might have thought she was playing with a Nintendo Wii controller that resembled a gun. According to the stepfather, the gun was out because he had heard a prowler and gotten the gun out earlier that evening. He then left the gun on the table in the living room. The gun is apparently a .380 caliber semi automatic handgun. The gun was usually kept unloaded and in a cabinet.

"Might?"

I'm just saying that the article is focusing on something completely irrelevant. There are adults present. They are much taller then a 3 year old. Why was a gun placed on a table where a 3 year old could reach it?

 

[wildcpac]

Step father should be locked in prison for the rest of his life. Who the hell leaves a loaded hand gun in the house of a 3 year old?

 

[Arakias]

[quote name='Maledar']It's all speculation
[/QUOTE]

Of course it speculation shes dead you cant ask her. But why did you skip this part?

[quote name='thekeybladewars']
The child had been playing a Wii game. The game’s controller, according to authorities, was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun. Cheyenne had learned how to use a gun from playing the Wii game for days. The authorities claim the girl "pulled the gun off the table and it went off."
[/QUOTE]

are you pro-wii-remote or something? either way she thought the gun was a toy.

 

[n8rockerasu]

I think the point is it's completely irrelevant. It could have just as easily been a television remote or a freaking candy bar. The problem is people use things like this for their own personal agendas. She "might" have thought it was a wii remote shaped like a gun because she had been playing such a game the past several days and that was the reason she knew how to use it.

This is begging the question: "If a 3 year old child had not been allowed to play a violent video game, would she even have known what a gun was?" People do shit like this and just skip over the far more important question that wildcpac asked: "Why was a loaded handgun sitting in a place where a 3 year old could reach it?" Prowler or not...that's a HUGE mistake, and sometimes HUGE mistakes cost you your entire world. Nobody's perfect, but you should never up this big.

 

[Sporadic]

[quote name='Arakias']are you pro-wii-remote or something? either way she thought the gun was a toy.[/QUOTE]

How do you know that? Sounds like the parents are trying to shift the blame away from themselves.

"No sir, this didn't happen because I was a ing retard who left a loaded gun on a table in the living room...it's because the Wii has a controller that kind of looks like it. The Wii killed my baby gurl "

 

[Maledar]

[quote name='Arakias']Of course it speculation shes dead you cant ask her. But why did you skip this part?



are you pro-wii-remote or something? either way she thought the gun was a toy.[/QUOTE]

I'm not pro-anything. I didn't "skip" it the article is right there. But you seem to have missed my point that a gun was placed on a low table, where a 3 year old can reach it.

Who gives a flying about a game or its peripherals, almost any 3 year old would of picked up a gun off a table even if they never touched a Wii in their life.

And I'm sure most kids would of thought a gun was a toy, Millions of kids have plastic gun toys. They would of picked up a real gun off a table if they saw it. Then I could have the media report on how a little kid shot himself because Mattel makes plastic guns.

I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just saying the parents are the ones at fault here, not a game system.

 

[Tavohl]

my step dad, goes hunting, and he leaves his ing rifle in the middle of the floor, in the leaving room. its kinda colorfull so i thought it was a toy. thank god when i lift it up, i thought it was too heavy to be a toy, and thank god (again) right before i pressed the trigger, i saw the lock/unlock button, so i put it on lock, put it down and started yelling at my mom. my cousins come home all the time, and they are 2-10 years old. the rifle had been sitting there, for about 3 days.
So yes, the parents are retards. just cause there are adults in the house, doesnt mean its a safe place to have a gun.

 

[BoSoxFan900]

It really isn't too much to ask that parents be ing parents. I'm a gun owner, but I don't leave a gun lying on the ing table. No one responsible does that, period.

 

[lokizz]

[quote name='Arakias']What? She clearly had a Wii game on, how is that hard to get from reading the article? The title seems correct to me.[/QUOTE]

point is that wii game no wii game if you leave a loaded gun lying out with a kid around chances are if she gets her hands on it she may well die. the rticle is trying to make ti seem like she only grabbed it because she thought it was a wii toy.

maybe she did who knows but the bigger isue with this story is the ignorance of the adults who left a loaded unlocked gun out and about. if anyone else picks up this story itll be interesting to see if they try and blame the wii for it.

 

[sml_mndz]

[quote name='lokizz'] if anyone else picks up this story itll be interesting to see if they try and blame the wii for it.[/QUOTE]
this.

 

[Cantatus]

[quote name='lokizz'] if anyone else picks up this story itll be interesting to see if they try and blame the wii for it.[/QUOTE]

I'm more waiting for the story where the parents sue Nintendo (despite Nintendo not selling an accessory that looks like that).

 

[blissskr]

I can't believe that he left a gun on a table with a three year old around. The story also doesn't say why he loaded the gun, I mean if its usually kept unloaded and he heard some noises yeah maybe I can understand putting the clip in. But why then keep it loaded on the table? That doesn't make any sense if it was a prowler and they broke in why not leave a loaded handgun for them on the table while you go take a nap.

 

[blissskr]

[quote name='Cantatus']I'm more waiting for the story where the parents sue Nintendo (despite Nintendo not selling an accessory that looks like that).[/QUOTE]

Im waiting for the next headline 'Nintendo wii kills child'

 

[FroMann]

I guess we forgot the DAD left a LOADED GUN on the living room table near a child? Nope, blame vidya gamez.

 

[Sir_Fragalot]

What's sad is the Wii is going to get blamed here, I ing know it.

 

[tiredfornow]

If that accessory in that picture is indeed what she was playing with, then I guess it makes sense for her to confuse the gun for that accessory.. though what ing game was she playing that she had to use that accessory, and what kind of parents would buy their 3 yr old daughter that accessory? :lol:[quote name='blissskr']I can't believe that he left a gun on a table with a three year old around. The story also doesn't say why he loaded the gun, I mean if its usually kept unloaded and he heard some noises yeah maybe I can understand putting the clip in. But why then keep it loaded on the table? That doesn't make any sense if it was a prowler and they broke in why not leave a loaded handgun for them on the table while you go take a nap.[/QUOTE]The story says he heard a "prowler" and went to check it out. I'm sure that was when he loaded the gun if they claim it was left in a cabinet unloaded at all times. I probably would've left it loaded and out just in case I really did hear someone messing around and trying to break in.

 

[BoSoxFan900]

[quote name='tiredfornow']If that accessory in that picture is indeed what she was playing with, then I guess it makes sense for her to confuse the gun for that accessory.. though what ing game was she playing that she had to use that accessory, and what kind of parents would buy their 3 yr old daughter that accessory? [/QUOTE]

Exactly TFN. It comes back to parents refusing to be responsible for their kids. Parents having a really hard time being ing parents.

 

[DKRobbie]

Oh good ing god. Nothing more to contribute.

 

[Mixer236]

What a complete ing moron... "well, I don't see anyone so I'll just leave this gun here and go to sleep." He might as well laid out rat poison and then surrounded it with candy. People like this make me sick... ing THINK! It's really not that hard.

 

[gargus]

In aboslutely no way, shape or form was the wii, the wii gun controller, the fact the controller looked like a real gun or anything even remotely involving a video game contributed to this at all.

The problem is anyone who has a child will tell you, if you leave something out within reach of a 3 year old and its small enough they can pick it up they will mess with it regardless of what it was. Whether you leave a tampon, a gun, a bottle of pills, a rock, a seashell or a stapler laying on a table a child that young will want to pick it up and mess with it.

The only thing to blame here are the adults that were stupid enough to leave a weapon of any sort laying around a child, let alone a loaded pistol.

[quote name='Arakias']either way she thought the gun was a toy.[/QUOTE]

That child I guarntee did not think "Hey this looks like the wii gun and it doesnt hurt me so this must be safe to pick up and play with also". That child did not think anything, it saw something to mess with and automatically proceeded to do so with no thought at all. 3 year olds do not reason things or put thought into something, they just experiment.

I remember being very little and I would do stupid shit with no thought at all. I stuck a knife in the electrical cord of my record player and remember my father being furious when asking me why I did that and my answer was "I dont know" because I didnt know, I just did it.

 

[CSKit]

Irresponsible parents for leaving the loaded weapon out, period.

Oh, and if people think there will be backlash from this, I doubt it. This was reported 10 days ago on Kotaku and I haven't heard anything since, excluding this post.

 

[JolietJake]

It wouldn't matter, by the time the NRA got done people would be blaming the kid.