By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
An old fortune cookie meme reads: “A fool and his wearing of body-armor is soon departed.” But apparently this wisdom did not make it to Honea Path, SC in time where Blake Wardell and some friends were inside a garage where he found a bulletproof vest.
According to, wait for it….Deputy Coroner Don McGowan, Blake asked someone to shoot him. Not wanting to miss such an opportunity another guest fired a small caliber firearm at him. The bullet missed the Kevlar panel of the vest and struck Blake in the heart, killing him.
But the intrigue was not about to stop there.
Allegedly after the shooting of Blake, Taylor Ann Kelly had told sheriff’s investigators she was responsible for the shooting. She was then arrested and charged with Involuntary Manslaughter. But according to sheriff’s deputies the next day she admitted that she lied about the shooting and then provided a statement that corroborated other evidence found at the scene.
Afterward, evidence allegedly implicated Timothy Fisher and he is now the one charged with Involuntary Manslaughter. Taylor’s charge was amended to Accessory After the Fact of a Felony.
One has to wonder if having a spare bulletproof vest lying around the garage could be considered an attractive nuisance.
By Darren Smith
Sources:
WYFF News
Mandarin Dragon Restaurant, Gorst, Washington. Cookie Retrieved April 1, 1986
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Being raised too protected? I’d say being raised with too many violent TV shows and video games in which the dead spring up and keep coming back to life.
Annie – I don’t know which video games or TV show you play or watch, but the ones I do, when someone dies, they die. Except for zombies, of course.
People are being raised so protected that they do not seem to have much common sense. Why someone would bet his life on a vest that was lying around, having no idea if it was real, intact, or the right size, is beyond me. They could have tested it on a dummy for target practice. But how did he know his friend wouldn’t accidentally shoot him in the head or neck? Were they drinking, or just oblivious?
Stupid is as stupid does. I am guessing that alcohol or drugs may have been involved??
He y’all get a look at this, hold my beer first.
“The bullet missed the Kevlar panel of the vest and struck Blake in the heart, killing him.”
I admittedly know nothing about the design of bullet proof vests. But, I would think, that of all the places you’d want to ensure were protected by such a vest, the heart would be at the top of the list. Was the guy not properly wearing the vest? I just don’t understand how a vest could not cover the heart.
Sounds like a product liability issue to me and assume the risk.
Here is the news broadcast from TV station WYFF:
This skidmark guys sounds like the ol’ pete guy who used to roam these parts. We loved the funny pete!
I tried to get the url for just the video but my skill set wasn’t high enough, but this story reminded me of the bullet proof vest test meme during on season of Reno 911. Here is one of those tests.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1gjvg_bullet-proof-vest-test-reno-911_fun
Note in the video that there are no pellet holes under the vest. A few broken ribs probably but you can live through that. What most morons don’t get is that soft armor will not leave you unscathed, just not dead. That is assuming your assailant hits the vest & not yoy. Also, it is really only good against pistol rounds. A .22 rifle will penetrate most soft armor where the pistol will not.
Off topic. The CNN show on sunday morning just claimed that the decision of the European Union Court that Google has to censor any err that we itchBay about is all the fault of Edward Snowden. This continued Snowden bashing by the corporate media from America is getting lamer each day. Some guy with a foreign accent was the host of the show. He was so certain and CNN is so stupid that we need to demand that they correct their errors about Snowden. They are no better than Google and their tv show is shown in Europe.
does the cameraman get a “i piss fragments” t-shirt?
what were blakes last words “ya’ll check this out”?
Anyone considering purchasing soft body armor for self or anyone else should watch this entertaining video by “The Professional Russian.” It would be funny if it weren’t so serious.
Look at the photos. Went in dumb, come out dumb too, hustling round Atlanta in our Alligator shoes….. We’re Rednecks, Rednecks, we don’t know an ar horse from a hole in the ground, etc
LOL. I have an old one in my trunk.
Darwin award?
Least ways he was shot in the heart and not the family jewels!
Would not be surprised to learn however that this was a deliberate murder which was dressed up to look like an idiotic accident.
I think of the NRA and their Machiavellian response to all gun violence, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” Maybe a new NRA ‘get out the guns’ campaign could be “There is no way to stop a stupid person with a gun, so wear complete body armor at all times.”
“One has to wonder if having a spare bulletproof vest lying around the garage could be considered an attractive nuisance.” – Darren
Yep.
And why would it be laying around if it really was bullet proof?
Maybe one should keep those things with the guns … in a cabinet away from those who do not know how, when, or why to use them.
I think that there is a lot more to this story, a lot more.