Chicago Man Allegedly Shoots Two Partygoers In Beer Pong Accident

A Chicago-area man allegedly waving a gun as a distraction to his beer-pong rival accidentally shot two men during a Fourth of July party, according to authorities.

One of the wounded men was hit in the shoulder, and the other in the hand. The duo drove themselves to a local hospital where they were said to be in stable condition at the time.

The injuries occurred when the suspect allegedly brandished a 9mm handgun and waved it in his beer-pong opponent’s face to distract him during the game. “The opponent pushed [the suspect] away, and as he did, the gun went off — striking the opponent in his finger and a 20-year-old Roseland man in his shoulder, prosecutors said. According to [the prosecutor], the 20-year-old was sitting nearby texting at the time and not involved with the game,” DNAinfo reported.

The suspect had a concealed carry permit issued by the state of Arkansas, “but failed to update his gun paperwork” when he relocated to Illinois.

Later that night, Chicago police arrested the suspect, Manus Shannon, 27, at his home on a charge of reckless discharge of a firearm, a felony, and as of Monday, he was being held on a $100,000 bond, CBS Chicago noted. He is due back in Cook County court on July 10. Additional charges are possible.

In case you need a refresher, as it were, the Urban Dictionary definition of beer pong is “a drinking game in which players attempt to throw ping pong balls across a table into an opponent’s half-filled cups of beer. Players are required to drink the beer from any of their cups into which the opponent throws a ball. The first player to hit all their opponent’s cups wins. The loser is required to drink whatever beer is left on the table (in opponent’s cups).”

Over the long Fourth of July weekend, 10 people tragically died and 55 were wounded in ongoing Chicago gun violence according to the Chicago Tribune.

Separately, police in College Station, Texas, believe an argument over beer pong game rules allegedly led to the murder of a co-ed who died in a hail of gunfire at a May 2015 graduation party.

[image credit: Marcus Nelson]