A 32-year-old man in Georgia lost one of his legs when an old lawn mower that he shot suddenly exploded.
Walton County native David Presley wanted to videotape himself on Saturday while shooting a lawn mower filled with an explosive known as Tannerite. He took an old riding mower to the woods and packed it with the chemical.
While Presley was shooting at the lawn mower using his rifle, the garden equipment suddenly exploded, sending dozens of shrapnel in different directions. One of the metal pieces from the destroyed lawn mower struck Presley's leg, immediately severing it below the knee.
Lydiah Mays, one of Presley's neighbors, said that she was inside when the explosion happened.
"I heard him scream and so I came downstairs and we were all like looking out the front window," Mays said.
Presley's friends took him to a driveway near Emmett Doster Road where they were met by deputies from the Walton County Sheriff's Office. Presley was then rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where is currently recovering from his injury.
It is still unclear exactly why Presley wanted to fill the lawn mower with Tannerite, but it is believed that it could be connected with a new viral video craze among gun enthusiasts in the country.
People who engage in the stunt shoot video clips of themselves shooting live rounds at chemical-filled objects to make them explode. They then post the clips online.
Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman, however, said that people are supposed to put only a pound of the chemical into an intended target and shoot at it only when they are at least 100 yards away.
Tannerite
Tannerite Sports LLC, the makers of the explosive chemical that Presley, pointed out in its website that its product is not meant to cause any fire, especially when it is mixed and used properly based on the accompanying instructions. Its binary rifle targets are specifically designed to be non-incendiary.
If a Tannerite binary rifle target is hit by a high velocity bullet, it would trigger a chemical reaction in the substance, causing large amount of water vapor to shoot out. This is used as an indicator that the target was successfully hit.
However, the company maker warned that there are many knock-off versions of its Tannerite binary rifle target, which could cause fires because they are made from lower quality raw materials and improper formulation.
