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Two teens hurt after woman throws gun, and it goes off
0903 Samantha King
Samantha King

A Guyton woman was arrested Saturday after she was involved in a shooting of two teenagers.


However, the woman didn’t fire the gun; she threw it.


Samantha King, 20, was charged with reckless conduct after investigators say she threw a rifle that then hit the ground and discharged a round, injuring two 17-year-old girls.


The shooting occurred as King was involved in a domestic dispute with a man at her home at Griffin Lakes Campground, according to Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor.


“She was throwing his belongings out the front door of the house, and she threw his rifle off the porch and onto the ground,” Ehsanipoor said.


King lives in a cabin on Lakeshore Drive near the Griffin Lakes Store, Ehsanipoor said. When the .22-caliber, single-shot rifle hit the ground, it discharged a round into the store.


The round went through a wall and hit two teens who were in town visiting — one from Hinesville and one from Bamberg, S.C. One of the girls was treated at the scene and the other was taken to a local emergency room with injuries the ECSO described as not life-threatening.


Investigators found no indication that King discharged the gun intentionally, and they are not sure if she knew the rifle was loaded, Ehsanipoor said.


Nonetheless, King was taken to the Effingham County Jail on the misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct.


“That’s not the proper way to handle any kind of firearm, no matter what,” Ehsanipoor said. “Common sense with gun safety, you should always treat a gun like it’s loaded.”