INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP , Mich., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A 36-year-old Michigan man’s death was ruled to be a suicide after he fatally shot himself in the head while attempting to demonstrate gun safety at his Independence Township home at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

When deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene, they found the man’s girlfriend performing CPR.


She told officers that the man, who had been drinking most of the day, wanted to demonstrate how safe guns were when they were empty by placing a gun to his head and squeezing the trigger. He did this with two handguns before the third one fired.

“(The situation) is pretty unique, as I have never heard of anyone testing out the safety of a gun by pointing at their head and pulling the trigger,” Undersheriff Michael McCabe told the Oakland Press.

Three children aged 12 and under were home at the time of the incident but didn’t witness the shooting. The victim’s name is being withheld at this time.

[Oakland Press] [Marshfield News Herald]