Reenactor shot for real

[sappersgt]

ISLE OF WIGHT - A local Civil War re-enactor is recovering after apparently being shot while participating in a scene for a Civil War documentary in Isle of Wight County over the weekend.

County Sheriff C.W. Phelps said that 72-year-old Thomas R. Lord Sr. was released from a hospital and is recovering at home. Phelps identified Lord as a retired police officer living in Suffolk.

The circumstances of the shooting are still unclear, and Phelps said investigators are still trying to determine how Lord was shot.

A spokeswoman for the Isle of Wight County Museum said it happened as part of a documentary filming in Heritage Park on Saturday.

Phelps said Lord was struck in the shoulder by "a projectile" that doctors removed after he was airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

"The projectile is still in his possession," Phelps said on Monday afternoon. "The doctors gave it to him after they took it out of his shoulder, but we won't know more about it until we talk to him today."

Phelps said the local game warden was not aware of any target shooting or hunting activity in the area at the time of the incident.

I go out and watch the twice a year reenactments near here. One thing I don't do is ever, ever stand down range from where they're firing. People think I'm paranoid but I've seen too many accidental discharges of weapons that aren't loaded or loaded with blanks.

Edit: It seems that the projectile was a pistol caliber round, there were only three participants that admit to carrying pistols. Interesting to note, earlier this year the novel "South Of Shiloh" was published in which someone is murdered during a reenactment by an assassin using an Enfield rifle.

[Bluesman]

Happened during the 135th Anniversary re-enactment at Gettysburg.

A French re-enactor borrowed a pistol from a Yank (that is a US re-enactor...who was impersonating a Federal). Nobody did a weapons check before the event. Amazing, but true, and apparently Monsieur Crapaud actually fired all six of his shots during Pickett's Charge, and tagged a single reb.

He lived.

Now, I'm not eager to get shot, but how COOL would it be to get shot during a re-enactment (but to live through it, of course). You'd be a hero to the unit.

[Gun Grape]

Originally Posted by Bluesman

Now, I'm not eager to get shot, but how COOL would it be to get shot during a re-enactment (but to live through it, of course). You'd be a hero to the unit.

Blues
There are many cool things in life. Getting shot is not one of them.