WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Roommates playing game when gun went off

Roommates playing game when gun went off

By Jamie Ertle-Durden - email

LYONS, GA (WTOC) - The Lyons Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are working together on a fatal shooting.

A call came into the 911 center just before 7:30pm on Thursday for a shooting. Emergency crews responded to Skyline Boulevard in Lyons and found 21-year-old Joshua O'Conner lying on the ground suffering from a shotgun wound. 

He was transported to the hospital in Vidalia, but died there.

His roommate, 20-year-old Timothy Holbroke, and another witness were with O'Conner on the scene.  Special agent in charge Greg Harvey told WTOC that Holbroke and O'Conner were reportedly playing a game called "slap-boxin", involving their .22 caliber rifle. When the weapon went off it struck O'Conner.

GBI and police are investigating the shooting as accidental until the autopsy is complete.  Harvey said they are looking at every angle of the case.

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