Accidental Discharge

ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE in this context occurs when an individual handling a firearm is negligent and fires a weapon unintentionally.

This has led to the loss of innocent lives around the world.
Such is the story of Peter.
Peter was born into a poor family. He lost his father at a very tender age, so the mother was the only person tasked with the responsibility of catering for Peter and his siblings, who were five in number. It was a very difficult task for the mother to undertake; she had to take on a lot of jobs to keep the family running, but her efforts were not enough. The family fed from hand to mouth and barely ate at times.

So at one stage, Peter decided to leave his homeland in search of greener pastures, for his own good and that of the family.

When Peter got to his new found place, he opened up a business and was doing quite well. He began sending money back home to the siblings and unsurprisingly became the bread winner for the family.
So one day while Peter was going about his business, he heard people screaming;  he turned around to see what was happening and saw two persons fighting. Peter being someone who had had an unforgettable experience as a mediator in the past, turned around and continued to go his way. It wasn't long before the police arrived.

One of the policemen cocked his gun in a bid to scare the fighters and those watching. The moment he did that, everybody dispersed. He was all smiles and forgot that the gun was still cocked and could discharge anytime. So he held the trigger, thinking that it was still at its default state. The moment he pulled the trigger; a bullet was discharged. The discharged bullet moved in the direction of an unfortunate person. Guess who that unfortunate person was?

The unfortunate person was the focused and less concerned Peter who was going about his business. The bullet hit him on the left side of the chest, where the heart is located. Blood began gushing out, and he lost his breath and died on the spot.

When the news of Peter's death got home, literally everybody in the house fainted because not only did the bullet kill Peter, it also took with it a lot of destinies because the family had lost its bread winner. Peter's mother, who was hypertensive at the time, began reminiscing on the death of Peter, and soon after she joined her ancestors in the land beyond.

This is the amount of pain, the negligence of a man, who was tasked with the responsibility of protecting lives has caused a family and a generation of people.
This may be fictional but it has always happened in the past, most recently was that of a boy who was killed by a bullet which accidentally discharged from the gun of His Fathers orderly, who was meant to protect him, and he died on the spot. 
This doesn't just apply to security personnel alone; it applies to each and every one of us because as a pharmacist, the wrong mixing formula could kill someone, and as a blogger, the wrong news and information could also kill someone. We should all be careful, negligence of duty is wrong.  

May 10, 2022.