Guest Shoots Himself At Russian Wedding
Posted on 30 March 2010 by LynThomas in Society, Uncategorized
Russian television recently aired a video of a wedding guest, who shot himself in the head with a rubber bullet, while playing a game of Russian roulette, at a wedding in Astrakhan, Russia.
The video shows an excerpt of the man talking to the groom, while giving of a toast, then whipping out a pistol and pointing it at his own head and pulling the trigger. There was an empty sounding click and nothing more.
The gun was taken by another man who shot himself in the temple, but instantly fell to the ground, in front of the horrified bride and groom, as the bullet exploded into his skull.
The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported that the victim was hospitalized with a serious head wound. The victim is reported as having suffered brain damage and paralysis.
The man who handed the gun over, was arrested and charged with hooliganism. He claims it was only a ‘party trick’ and insisted he had taken out all the bullets. “I expected lots of applause after I did it and never guessed someone would repeat it.”
Russian roulette, a potentially lethal game of chance, is thought to have originated in 19th century, inTsarist Russia. One bullet would be placed in the gun chamber, the cylinder spun. The inmates would then be forced to put the muzzled against their head and pull the trigger. The prison officials would place bets on who would die. It is understood that years later, during the Russian Revolution, officers would play the ‘game’ in front of comrades. It is thought some were suicidal, while others, just like the victim of the wedding shooting, merely wanted to prove their bravery.
British author Graham Greene claimed that in his youth he often played Russian roulette. Malcolm X says that during his burglary career he played Russian roulette to prove to his partners in crime he was not afraid to die. John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to shoot Ronald Reagan, was known to play Russian roulette, on at least two occasions. William Shockley, co inventor of the transistor and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics, attempted suicide by playing a solo game of Russian roulette.
On October 5th, 2003, psychological illusionist Derren Brown played Russian roulette on British Channel 4. The broadcast was aired with a slight delay, in case anything went wrong. The stunt was condemned as being irresponsible. The incident was in fact classed as a hoax.
A retrospective study showed that over the years, 80% of the victims of Russian roulette, were white, all of them males and the average age was 25 years. Alcohol played a much bigger role than in any other cause of suicide by shooting.
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30 March 2010
[...] The first guest shot without any incident, but when a second guest grabbed the gun the result was devastation. Read who else is known to have played Russian roulette… [...]
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