ALCOHOL, HANDGUN AND LOOK ALIKE BB GUN LEAD TO SHOOTING OF TEENAGER December 28, 2010
Benjamin Allen Sprague, 23, said he thought was holding a BB gun when he accidentally shot and wounded his girl friend.
(HAPPY VALLEY, ORE.) -- A 23-year old Happy Valley, Oregon man has a court appearance scheduled for this week after he said he mistook a loaded .45 caliber handgun for a BB gun and shot his girl friend with it.
Happy Valley is a small town in Clackamas County, Oregon about the size of Sultan.
Benjamin Allen Sprague faces allegations of recklessly endangering another person and third-degree assault after he told authorities he’d been drinking with friends Dec. 13 and handling both a .45 caliber handgun and a BB gun that resembled the handgun.
He said by mistake he pulled the trigger of what he thought was the BB gun he was holding in the direction of his girl friend Jessica Heffler, 17, who was standing nearby.
It was not the BB gun that he was holding. The .45 caliber bullet came roaring out of the barrel of the real gun and struck Heffler in the abdomen.
She survived but was badly wounded. Authorities say she required reconstructive surgery for bowel damage.
The friend of Sprague’s who owned the gun said he had it out in plain view because he was cleaning it. He told police he had left the room for a few minutes where Sprague and his girl friend were and was unaware Sprague had picked up the gun and was playing with it.
