Gun Range Worker Accidentally Shoots, Kills Customer

A 36-year-old man walking toward a gun range was fatally shot Tuesday before he stepped inside. Joshua Cummings had just got out of his vehicle and was walking across the parking lot of Hot Wells Shooting Range near Cypress, Texas, shortly after 9am when a rifle accidentally discharged inside, reports KHOU. Police say a gun range employee in his early 20s had been cleaning a high-caliber hunting rifle when a bullet exited the chamber. "The bullet went through the wall of the small range house and struck [Cummings]," a Harris County sheriff’s deputy tells KTRK. He was flown to a nearby hospital in a helicopter but later died.

A sheriff's spokesman says homicide detectives are questioning employees but the shooting appears to be accidental, per NBC 5. It's "just a terrible tragedy," a range employee tells KTRK, which identifies Cummings as a father. "We simply do not have the words to express the sorrow in our hearts," adds Hot Wells in a statement. "For 44 years we have operated this facility accident free, yet today we are shaken by tragedy." The range said it wouldn’t comment on "the accident details" until after an investigation is complete. (A man discussing church shootings accidentally shot his wife in a church.)