Soldier shoots comrade in the face trying to cure hiccups

Patrick Edward Myers tried to scare a fellow soldier by pulling out his gun

Published September 26, 2012 8:40PM (EDT)

 Fort Hood military base (Wikimedia)
Fort Hood military base (Wikimedia)

A soldier at a Texas army base shot a fellow soldier in the face when attempting to scare away his hiccups, CNN reported.

The soldiers were drinking and watching football on Sunday night at their Fort Hood base when Isaac Lawrence Young got the hiccups, according to the police report. Patrick Edward Myers pulled out the gun to scare Young, thinking he had dummy rounds in the weapon, he told police.

Myers now faces mansluaghter charges and is being held on $1 million bail.

Fort Hood was also the site of a deadly 2009 shooting rampage, during which army psychiatrist Nidal Hissan shot dead 13 people.

Data from the U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center found that the third quarter of the 2012 fiscal year (April 1 to June 30) was the worst of the year when it came to accidental military deaths, but that fatal accidents are on the decline compared to 2011. More than 100 soldiers have died so far this year in on- or off-duty accidents.


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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Army Fort Hood Hiccups Manslaughter Shooting Texas