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Rural Tognanoxie man who accidentally shot himself in serious condition at KU

By Shawn Linenberger - | May 10, 2011

A 23-year-old rural Tonganoxie man who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound while shooting off his handgun the night of Wednesday, May 4 in his backyard is in serious condition at an area hospital.

A hospital official at Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., said Derek J. Erwin was in serious condition Tuesday.

The man had drunk several beers with his girlfriend at his home about 3 1/2 miles east of Tonganoxie. As she took a shower, he went outside, reports said.

Two other residents of the home heard three gunshots, but they weren’t alarmed, reports said, because the man regularly fires his .45-caliber handgun in the backyard at night.

But the man came into the house, suffering from a gunshot wound below his chin that exited at the top of his forehead, reports said. He told the responding deputy that he had shot the gun, and officers are investigating the incident as an accidental shooting.

The man was taken by Leavenworth County Emergency Medical Service to Kansas University Hospital.

The shooting occurred about 10:15 p.m.