Alabama Man Accidentally Shoots Grenade Into His Leg, Results In 8-Hour Standoff

An Alabama man shot an undetonated grenade into his thigh, prompting bomb disposal experts to rush to the scene which resulted in an eight-hour stand-off. The unidentified 62-year-old man and two paramedics were held outside UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, fearing for their lives from 11pm to 7am on Friday as experts warned one move could kill them all, Colorado Newsday reports.

[su_center_ad]According to doctors in Jasper, Alabama, when the man (not pictured) arrived at his local clinic bleeding profusely, he said he mistook a genuine bomb for a novelty one and hit it with a hammer.

When paramedics arrived, the man told them a 40 mm grenade went off while it was in his lap. “He thought it was a novelty round,” paramedic Cameron Padbury, 37, said. “He was taking it apart. As he was twisting, the gunpowder ignited and shot into his thigh.”

Because the grenade had not traveled far enough, it failed to detonate.

The man was held inside an ambulance on the street outside UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama for eight hours, with the surrounding area closed off to the public.

At around dawn, the team decided a disposal specialist could attempt to remove the device. It took 30 minutes to remove the grenade.

‘It was pretty nerve-wracking. It was an intense experience,’ Padbury said.  Padbury stayed by the man’s side during the ordeal.

Paramedic Cameron Padbury

Padbury was one of several to take care of the man inside the ambulance while experts decided how best to resolve the problem, according to AL.com.

Authorities praised the paramedics, along with the U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist, who would eventually remove the grenade from the victim’s leg. The practice grenades, experts said, will fire and travel up to several hundred meters.

“The Jasper paramedics stayed with the guy all night and saved his life,” Dave Hyche said, a Birmingham supervisor with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “Had it been a high explosive, it could have taken that ambulance apart.”

Even though Padbury was told he could leave at 7:00 a.m., he chose to stay by the man’s side.

“It was extremely heroic,” Hyche said. “Nobody knew this wasn’t live. Removing it could have easily killed everyone there.”

H/T: The incomparable @CarlaAkins with thanks.[su_csky_ad]

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D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.