Don't Try This At Home

A South Dakota man tries to prove CSI wrong and accidentally dies in the process.

Earl F. Ellwanger Jr, a 55-year-old man from Provo, South Dakota, was home with family members on the evening of Tuesday, July 31. According to Fall River County Sheriff Jeff Tarrell, Ellwanger had watched an episode of CSI in which the team proved that a woman could not have shot herself in the stomach with a shotgun. Afterward, he decided to prove the theory wrong.

Ellwanger used his own shotgun to disprove the characters' conclusion. "He decided to show that the program was incorrect and didn't realize the shotgun was loaded," Tarrell said. The result was that Ellwanger ended up gravely injured.

Ellwanger accidentally shot himself at around 7:00 PM and was transported by ambulance to Minnekahta Junction. From here, he was taken on a Black Hills LifeFlight aircraft to the Rapid City Regional Hospital. Despite having medical care, Ellwanger succumbed to his wounds on Thursday, August 2. He was survived by his mother, his fiancée, two sons and three grandchildren.

The original article is from The Rapid City Journal.

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