Without seeing an accident investigation report of the incident, it is disingenuous to speculate on the causes. It is obvious there were mistakes made. Just what those errors might have been is purely speculative at this
point. If a full accident report is released (unlikely) , then we can have an open discussion about the incident.
I am a gun
wrangler with 50+ years experience with firearms in performance situations, including a
current production of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” (previously known as “Ten Little Indians”). I hold a license to own, carry,
purchase and sell firearms in the state of Iowa. As such I feel competent to make a few remarks concerning this event.
The list of possible, probable and obvious mistakes is a long one, but I will try to touch on the most obvious.
Pre-performance planning: The performance should have been planned and blocked to avoid the discharge of a weapon in close proximity to an audience member.
Performer training. All performers in a live fire performance, with a proximate audience must be trained to adjust to conditions that might vary from performance to performance. Those who do not fire a weapon may need to adjust
blocking or dialogue to allow the performer firing the weapon to adjust location or position to avoid conflict with any audience members. Those performers that do fire a live weapon must be trained to adjust
blocking and timing to suit.
Training must include practice firing and include sessions on muzzle awareness and muzzle discipline.
Event planning. The reenactment or performance must be planned out in
advance to avoid any need to discharge a firearm within a specific distance from any audience member. The exact safe distance is dependent on many factors, including the specific weapon, the
load in the ammunition, the direction in relation to proximate audience members in which the round is to be discharged.
Weapon/ammunition Choice. Was the weapon chosen for the performance the correct choice for the specific performance/audience proximity/performance space/performer competence,
etc. Was the weapon in this case a revolver, semi-auto, rifle, shotgun…..? Should the weapon have been a real weapon firing a blank round? Should it have been a front venting weapon that can only fire blanks? Should it have been a side or top venting weapon that only fires blanks? Should the load have been full, half, quarter…..?
In this case, if the training was in place, it was not sufficient or it was not adhered to. Was the training sufficient? Was the performer competent, under the influence of medication or alcohol or impaired due to a medical condition? Was the audience member moving or “out-of-place”? Was the
load in the ammunition correct for the performance? Was the planned
blocking appropriate for the physical space and the placement of the proximate audience?
All these things and more will have to be sorted out to in order to study the incident and to implement measures to prevent it from ever happening again.