CRONADUN TRAGEDY

Grey River Argus, 12 April 1928, Page 2

CRONADUN TRAGEDY

THE INQUEST. An inquest was held at Reef lon Courthouse before Mr W. B. Auld, J.P., Acting Coroner, concerning the death at Cronadun of John Louis Wright, aged 15 years, who was accidentally shot at Cronadun on Friday at 3 p.m. Sergt. Fryer conducted the case and there was a jury of four, of whom Mr C. P. Mori was chosen foreman. .lames Wright, father of deceased, said: I am a miner residing a.t Cronadun and identify the body a< that of my son Louis John Wright. I did not fee him on Friday morning. Deceased vas in the habit of going with the boys Cooper and Rogers, with whom he was friendly. Bernard Francis Rogers .‘■am: 1 am 1/ rears of age, residing at Cronadun, and knew deceased Louis John Wright, ami aiso Stephen John Coopei, who were mates of mine. We went out shooting on Friday morning about 11 o’clock We had one rifle, .the property oi John Cooper. It was ot .22 calibre (produced). Cooper had the ammunition. We intended shooting blackbirds I ut we did not get any birds ami decided to do some target practice. Ihe target decided on was a piece of paper on a tree stump, and it was agreed

that I should have .the first shot. Wright fixed the piece of paper on the stump, ami while he did this we were back about 25. yards from it. I was lying down on the ground with the loaded rifle in my hand. I waited until he was clear of the target before filing ami then got ready .to tire. I did not take aim. The rifle went off before I took aim. The rifle must have been on full cock. Aly linger must have been on the trigger. 1 did not know the rifle was fully cocked. After the shot Wright staggered and fell. He was about ten feet to the left of the target. I went to see what was the matter with Wrigh.t and found he was injured. He was taken to my parents’ place, where he was seen by Dr. Conlon. I have been used Io the .22 rifle. The rifle (produced) is in good order as far as I know. I was present when Cooper made a statement in the afternoon, when he admitted ‘’in-ig the shot .that killed Wright, am! said the bullet must have ricocheted to kill deceased. That statement was not cor rect. To one of tin* jurymen: There were no marks on the target. We only think the bullet richocheted. To Scrg.t. Fryer: The accident hap pened a little after 1 p.m. Dr. W. A. Conlon said: I was called about 2.30 p.m. on Friday from Cronadun by Mr Wright, who said one of his boys was shot ami was lying at Mi Bernard Rogers’ house. I proceeded there and found a boy, whop' I know as Louis Wright, lying on a stretcher, lie was dead. On examining the head I found a penetrating and punctur'd wound about, the size of a pe.i siuiared on the right side of the head on what is known as the parietal eminence. There was blood matting the hair am! there appeared a fracture of the parietal bone giving one’s examining linger a sensation as of eggshells crackling under it. There was no sign of life, and .to me it appeared as if death had occurred perhaps two hours previously to my examination. There were no other signs of injury on . t lie body and from the examination made T was of the opinion that death was duo to haemorrhage of the brain, the result of a penetrating wound in the skull. There was' no doubt apparently, that the penetrating body was a bullet from a rifle.

To sSergt. Fryer: I should say the wound was caused by a direct hit. Stephen John Cooper said: I reside at Cronadun. T went out with deceased and Rogers on Friday on a .mooting expedition. I had my own r fie (produced). We did not seen anything to shoot so we decided we would have some taget practice, the target bt ing a small piece of paper put on the root of a stump. It was arrange I that Frank Rogers should fire the first shot. Louis Wright fixed the target while Rogers was lying on the ground. 1 was sitting beside him about 21 paces from the target. Rogers had the rill? in his hand. The rifle was loaded. 1. loaded it and di<l not leave it o i full cock as far as 1 know. Wright, fixed the target and stepped back to the left ami told Rogers to fire. As h<‘ stepped back his right shoulder would be pointing towards us. I do not know whether Rogers took aim as I was not watching too closely. After the shot Wright collapsed an J we went to see what was the matter. 1 made a statement on Friday afternoon and stated that I fired th© shot that killed Wright. The statement was wrong.

To the Coroner: I was influenced to make that statement by boys around who thought I would get into trouble for lending the gun. Wright, Rogers ami myself were the best of mates. To Sergt. Fryer: We have often gone out shooting together on several occasions previously. Sergt. Fryer stated: On Friday at 4.15 I received information about the shooting and proceeded to Cronadun and interviewed .the witnesses Cooper and Rogers, who pointed out to me the scene of the accident and the tree stump where the target w.ts placed. The rifle (produced) was Aying at a point 21 paces from the target. About three paces in front of the target, and about a yard to the left frotA the line of fire, I found a pool of bioAid, which Cooper and Rogers stated was from the wound suffered by deceased. Coop er made a statement admitting\that he fired the shot that killed WrigXt, but stated ho took deliberate aim at the target, and the shot must have been a ricoche.t. That statement was signed by Cooper and initialled by RogerAas correct. I pointed out that the circumstances did not point to a rieochcV They afterwards came to Reef ton am 15 made statements on ,the lines of the ? evidence given to-day. The boys both appeared very upset. The jury, without retiring, returned the verdict: “That the death of the deceased was caused by a haemorrhage of the brain, the outcome of a pure accident from a rifle accidentally fired,

no blame being attached to any person. The Coroner expressed the sympathy of the Court to the parents of deceased in the loss of a promising young lad.