# Uxbridge woman dies of gunshot wound at gun range



## Nightstalker (Jul 25, 2006)

*Uxbridge woman dies of gunshot wound*

Police: Shooting self-inflicted
*By Edward J. Canty TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]

http://telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS/610200716/1101
*







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*WORCESTER- *A 35-year-old Uxbridge woman died yesterday afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while at a city shooting range, police said.

Police were notified at 5:16 p.m. that an unidentified woman had shot herself in the head with a handgun at the Boston Gun Range, 317 Southwest Cutoff. She was pronounced dead at the UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus at 5:52 p.m., according to Detective Sgt. Mark H. Richardson. An autopsy will be performed at the state medical examiner's office in Boston, he said.

Police declined to comment on whether the woman was alone or what led to the shooting.

Last night, detectives, crime scene investigators and officers from the Operations Division spent hours at the scene gathering data. Sgt. Richardson with other investigators searched an area adjacent to the range building looking on the ground under and around parked truck trailers. They declined to comment on what they were searching for.

Customers were turned away by two hand-printed paper signs taped on front windows of the single-story brick building that said, "Closed for Maint."

A man who said he was an employee walked away when asked to be interviewed and said, "We're still closed for maintenance." Later, another employee declined to be interviewed by phone. He said the owner was not available.

A sign on Route 20 advertises that the range is open to the public. Shooters can rent a weapon to shoot and no permit is required, it says.

Investigators declined to comment on whether the dead woman had rented a handgun or had a permit.


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## thelastsamurai (Jun 10, 2005)

I know indoor ranges are recorded closed circuit. So they should be able to review the tapes... possibly suicide.


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## Nightstalker (Jul 25, 2006)

thelastsamurai said:


> I know indoor ranges are recorded closed circuit. So they should be able to review the tapes... possibly suicide.


 *Suicide was 2nd for gun range*
http://telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061021/NEWS/610210357/1116
Previous death was 8 years ago

* By Milton J. Valencia TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
*

* 
WORCESTER- * The shooting range business where a woman killed herself Thursday night has seen death before; a college student took her life in similar fashion eight years ago, when the business was in Millbury.

The Boston Gun Range, at 317 Southwest Cutoff, was called Rangemaster at the time, but it had the same ownership.

Owner Mark M. Tashijian said in 1999 that when he moved the shooting range to Grafton Street under opposition from local residents, he had no problems with the business in Millbury, and that he moved to Worcester to find more space. In 2003, he relocated to Southwest Cutoff, where the suicide occurred Thursday.  

But years earlier, a woman went into the business in Millbury under the pretext of learning to fire a weapon, left a suicide note and killed herself, according to Millbury Police Chief Richard L. Handfield.

Chief Handfield said the suicide was no fault of the business, because it was licensed to allow the general public to come into the range and fire weapons, even without a gun permit.

"It was extremely unfortunate," he said.

But the chief's own policies on permitting someone to have a weapon are a clear contrast to regulations allowing a shooting range to accept members of the general public.

Chief Handfield said he would check a gun permit applicant's criminal history, background and mental health before issuing a gun permit.

"I'm going to check everywhere I possibly can," the chief said.

In a shooting range, the business is required only to provide a controlled setting, to supervise people and make sure rented weapons don't leave the premises.

Indeed, a sign in front of the Boston Gun Range reads "Open to the Public - No Permit Required."

The policy has triggered concern among police in Worcester, a city which has some of the most stringent gun licensing policies in the state, and Thursday's suicide comes during a statewide debate over gun control. The Gun Owner's Action League's endorsement of Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey for governor brought criticism from Democrats over her opposition to new gun laws. Local police chiefs criticized Ms. Healey for her proposal to give the state control over issuing gun permits, taking the responsibility from local police chiefs.

Multiple people have been charged in recent years by the federal government with being a felon in possession of a weapon after lying on the shooting range's log sheets, saying they have never been convicted of a crime. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives check the shooting range's logs regularly.

Worcester police Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst, the department spokesman, said yesterday that the investigation into the suicide continues, but that police are also looking at the company's regulations, given the nature of the death and the fact that a gun was involved in a public setting.

"We're going to look to make sure all proper policies and procedures were followed accordingly," Sgt. Hazelhurst said. "With this nature and loss of life, we're going to look at everything."

The shooting range was not open yesterday afternoon. A sign on the door said it would open at 4 p.m., but someone who answered a telephone call said the owner was not available and that workers were completing maintenance on the range. A sign on the door Thursday, while police were investigating the shooting, said the business was closed for maintenance.

Police were called to the shooting scene at 5:16 p.m. Sgt. Hazelhurst said a medical examiner will determine the cause of death, but that it appears the woman, 35, of Uxbridge, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The woman, whom the Telegram & Gazette has decided not to identify because of the nature of the death, did not have a gun permit, Sgt. Hazelhurst said.


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## justanotherparatrooper (Aug 27, 2006)

couldve just as easily been a car into a tree.someone wants to kill themselves they find a way.


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## NFAfan (May 10, 2006)

Big fucking deal!!! 

Should the rest of the public now be judged or regulated further because of the actions of one mentally unstable depressed individual?
As a gun owner, I for one am tired of having rules made to accomodate the lowest common denominator of mental instability among the people in this state. 
So she killed herself.....does that mean that every other participant at that range or in the state must now suffer some kind of consequence? Lots of people kill themselves by hanging themselves or driving into trees or jumping off buildings.....has there been a call to ban rope or motorvehicles or tall buildings?

In the eyes of some people, its ALWAYS the gun that is at fault. None of my guns ever jumped up and fired by themselves, nor has anyone elses.

She could have just as easily jumped off an overpass or walked out in front of a bus or truck. The fact that she chose to off herself with a gun shows that she had some idea of what she was doing and wanted it done quickly and permanently. Thats life...or death as the case may be....nobody but her is responsible for the outcome.


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## Wiggum_1 (Dec 9, 2004)

Don't you just love it, a business that follows the law's and regulations of both the state and fed. gov't. is made out to be the bad guy in those 2 articles.


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## NFAfan (May 10, 2006)

Wiggum_1 said:


> Don't you just love it, a business that follows the law's and regulations of both the state and fed. gov't. is made out to be the bad guy in those 2 articles.


It follows their agenda. Personal responsibility is a foreign concept to them.


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