Conflicting Reports On Justin Carter’s Accidental Shooting Death

Country/rap singer Justin Carter died yesterday from an accidental shooting, one which involved a gun he was using as a prop for a video shoot.

The singer was 35, and left behind two young children.

Details are still unclear whether the incident occurred during the actual filming of a video at Carter’s apartment.

Carter’s mother, Cindy McClellan, told Fox News that her son was filming a music video in Houston, Texas, on Saturday when a gun in his pocket “went off and caught my son in the corner of his eye.”

Mark Atherton of Triple Threat Management told Houston’s ABC 11 that the gun that was going to be used for a music video shoot was the same one that ultimately killed Carter at his apartment.

Houston law enforcement officials have not released any details about the shooting at this time.

“He was a wonderful artist,” McClellan told Fox. “He was the voice, he was the total package and we’re trying to keep his legend [alive].”

Atherton agreed, telling ABC 11, “Justin had a lot of potential too, you know, in our eyes, and a lot of people’s eyes to be the next Garth Brooks.”

Carter had signed a deal with Triple Threat Management, making them his representatives, just days before the fateful shooting. The management company plans on putting out the rest of his music, with the proceeds going to his family.

According to his Facebook page, Carter claimed to have recorded 30 songs in the six months since he took up music full-time. Earlier this year, he released videos for his singles “Love Affair,” “Kind of Woman,” and “Run.”

The video for “Run” gained over 3,500 views in a mere 3 days. The song is currently at over 20,000 views on YouTube, and features Zamar Pierre.

Carter claimed Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, George Strait, and George Jones as being early inspirations to him.

This is not the first time the use of prop guns has resulted in a death.

In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally shot himself filming an episode of CBS’s Cover Up according to Entertainment Weekly. Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, was killed in an accidental shooting by a prop gun while filming a scene for the movie The Crow in 1993 according to Business Insider. Up-and-coming rapper Keaway Lafonz Ivy, 21, was shot and killed with a prop gun in 2015 while filming a music video in Washington, D.C, according to the Washington Post.

Details have to emerge regarding the type of prop gun that was involved in Carter’s death.

The McClellan family has set up a GoFundMe in order to cover funeral costs in bringing Carter’s body back from Houston to San Antonio for burial, according to Fox News.