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A wedding officiant turned himself in to the police after he accidentally shot his own 12-year-old grandson during a ceremony in Nebraska. Lancaster County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said that 62-year-old Michael Gardner traveled from Texas to officiate the wedding at Hillcrest Events in Denton on Friday (September 29).
To start off the ceremony, Gardner decided to fire a "blank" into the air using his Pietta Model 1860 Snub Nose revolver.
"When he decided to cock back the hammer of this revolver, it slipped, and it shot his grandson into the left shoulder, causing an injury," Houchin told reporters during a press conference.
While the bullet was a blank, Gardner "put black powder into the casing and then glued it," Houchin explained. "And what we believe is the glue is what injured the child."
The boy was struck in the shoulder and rushed to a local hospital. He has since been transferred to a hospital in Omaha with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.
On Monday, Gardner turned himself in to face charges of child abuse for neglectable firing of a firearm and injuring someone. However, prosecutors did not formally charge Gardner during a hearing the next day. Instead, they told the court they will decide what charges, in any, they will file by Gardner's scheduled arraignment hearing on November 3.
"Just another example that playing with firearms, no matter what, even if they're blanks, bad things can certainly happen," Houchin said in a statement to Fox News. "We do not believe Michael intended to hurt his grandchild, but the act was not very smart."