Boy, 8, dies after firing Uzi at gun show
 

Video: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/play...97629&src=news

The mother of an 8-year-old boy who shot himself to death at a supervised gun expo in Westfield yesterday says she’ll remember her son as an angel.
“He was a beloved, beautiful child. He was an angel,” said Suzanne Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., whose third-grade son, Christopher, died Sunday after firing an Uzi submachine gun at the Westfield Sportman’s Club.
Christopher apparently lost control as he fired the gun, forcing it upwards and back, causing him to shoot himself in the head, said Westfield Police Lt. Hipolito Nunez. Christopher was under the supervision of a certified instructor, as well as his father, Dr. Charles Bizilj, when he was shot.
The annual machine gun show is advertised as a free-for-all for gun enthusiasts, and has created discord among some club members, said longtime club member Bob Greenleaf.
“To let an 8-year-old boy fire an Uzi is the height of stupidity,” said Greenleaf.
Greenleaf, a member of the club for 44 years, was so opposed to the annual machine gun shoot that he resigned from the club’s board of directors four years ago.
An ad for the show posted on the Sportman’s Club Web site boasts: “No age limit or licenses required to shoot machine guns, handguns, rifles or shotguns!!!”
“You will be accompanied to the firing line with a certified instructor to guide you, But You Are In Control - Full Auto Rock And Roll.”
The annual expo is run by a group called C.O.P. Firearms and Training Co., based in Amherst. The head of that group is Pelham Police Chief Ed Fleury, Greenleaf said. Fleury could not be reached.
Pelham Police Lt. Gary Thomann, who answered the phone today at the police station, said his chief would have no comment.
“He’s not talking about it,” Thomann said.
He said Fleury will be out for the remainder of the week.
Nunez said the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives is expected today to aid in the investigation.
No charges have been filed in connection with the death, he said.
“We are still researching the law,” he said.
The Office of Hampden District Attorney William Bennett is also investigating.


Monday October 27, 2008 - 02:41pm (PDT) Permanent Link | 2 Comments

Wow...

just.. yeah...

“To let an 8-year-old boy fire an Uzi is the height of stupidity,”

how tragic. wow. why does it always take something terrible happening to a child before laws are changed to reflect common sense? :(

Americans...

Wow, that's sad!

I have fired tons and tons of full auto weapons and it takes some getting used to.
You cant just walk up and "rock and roll" as stated especially for a 8 year old kid.

I remeber years ago I was teaching one of my friends to shoot a modded Remington 700, it was basically modded to be a M40 (the sniper rifle the U.S marines use)

And while shooting my friend put his eye on the scope and I did'nt notice...the rifle cut open his eye and nose and he was squirting blood everywhere. Me and my army buddies were jus laughing but I realize now thats its serious business.

mmm..

agreed

have the coolest toys

......wow....*speechless*

To let your own child of 8 years hold a fully automatic UZI and fire it goes beyond stupidity...I think it warants a title more suited like "#1 Epic Fail Dad of the century". I don't know about the rest of you and your experience with weapons but, for anyone with some sense and logic, would realize firing a fully automatic UZI even as an adult takes some muscle to stablize the recoil. What was his Dad thinking? Most parents keep their kids away from dangerous situations like this - this one deliberately puts him infront of harms way...wtf? Another thing, what's with the no age limit??? So you're saying like a 5 year old can blast off a couple of rounds with a 12 gage shot gun? That makes no sense. There's gotta be a clause in there under adult supervision or something. Personally, I don't think it's the fault of the organizers - well, I do but, I blame the father mostly since he was also supervising the child. Seriously, he should know better than to do something as idiotic as that...even if the organizers said it was ok.

EPIC FAIL!!!

poor family...

Forget the family. The family were the idiots that put their son in this situation. It's one step short of commiting murder themselves. They might as well pulled the trigger. It's their own damn fault and they should be shot for it.

That is seriously retarded.

Usually parents are really over protective of their own kids to the point that it get's ridiculous how they want to protect their children, but this was almost the complete opposite.

Here's an interview from the father after the incident.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...dentify_6.html

WTF is the parent doing, being in a 8 year to a gun expo. like WTF are they thinking.

sad sad story, but what boggles my mind is that why would they have loaded guns with real ammunition in the first place. and then dumb parents.

laws are not the answer. education and removal from the gene pool are.

I know this is an old thread but i finally got around to czeching it out, WOW, the kids dad was A DOCTOR! maybe med school really is that much easier south of the boarder