According to heraldonline.com, Bruce Pond of Ossian, Indiana was bothered by the light at the end of a nearby pier (not shown). Despite being drunk and, more importantly, unaware of the source of the light, Pond decided to shoot it. It was a flashlight being used by a neighbor and his dad during some late night fishing. The bullet struck four-year old Jacob Michuda in the head, killing him . . .
Trish Ulmer, a neighbor, described the incident as “just a freak accident.” Ms. Ulmer needs to brush up on her vocabulary; this was not an accident. Had Mr. Pond followed the safety rule know your target and what is beyond, a little boy would still be alive.
Pond was being held without bond on a preliminary charge of reckless homicide and due to appear in court Monday.
Thankfully, the local authorities see Pond’s gross negligence for what it is.
This is Terrible tragedy. This man needs to do hard time where he can sober up and be denied the use of firearms for the rest of his life for his clearly reckless actions.
What a complete a-hole.
How exactly does the entirely predictable outcome of a stupid, dangerous action qualify as a “freak accident”?
I hope this guy does hard time for murder, and I hope he has enough of a conscience that this tortures him for the rest of his life.
Bruce Pond has been a family friend before I was born, if you knew Bruce, You would know Bruce would not intentionally harm anyone at all. He use to babysit me and many others for years. Yes what he did was reckless, but I assure you, you don’t know anything about him, what he’s been through, and what he really needs. You know what does torture him? The fact he saw his best friend die in a horrific motorcycle accident. His wife abused him and held a gun to HIS head, so before you all go listening to the media, maybe you should find out who Bruce Pond really is.
Also, I’m not saying what happened wasn’t stupid or dangerous. But this incident has shown you how troubled he is as an individual. Bruce was a friend of the Michuda’s by the way. He worked for the grandfather of the boy for a few years with my father. Bet the media didn’t tell you any of this.
Who gives a shit what he went through? He was drunk and killed a KID while they were night fishing. I hope he dies very painfully in prison. It’s assholes like this who make responsible gun owners targets for groups and Government.
He acted with gross disregard for human life and killed a baby. Unless you’re Janet Reno, you do time for that.
I know Robert has pressed for criminals to have their gun rights restored after they’ve repaid their debts to society. I wonder what he thinks about that policy in this case?
Maybe “repaying the debt to society” is too vague. Is it possible for a person to ever redeem themselves after something this reckless? If not, then he spends the rest of his life behind bars. If it is, and you know the bleeding hearts wont lock him up forever, then when he does get out RF says his firearms rights should be restored.
Irresponsible Gun Owner Of A Lifetime is more like it.
I agree. This story/guy needs put in the hall of fame(shame?).
Relative to the firearms restoration, I agree that after a felon serves their sentence in full that their gun rights should be restored in full UNLESS they use a firearm in the commission of their imprisoning felony, in which case that right should be surrendered for the rest of their natural life (save for cases of executive clemency or pardon).
Is “monkey-stomped to death” an allowable sentence in Indiana?
F’ing scumbag.
i never met the little fella that lost his life because of this blatant disregard for any and all gun safety but my boyfriend knew him and his mother. he was his mothers only child and her whole world. it breaks my heart to know that a mother lost her baby and before what would be her child’s 14th birthday, he will be a free man again.
(max 8 years for the homicide & one more for possession of a firearm)
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/update-bruce-pond%27s-bail-revoked
here is a link to a bit more updated story.