Nine-year-old girl accidentally kills shooting range instructor with Uzi

A nine-year-old accidentally shot dead her instructor who was teaching her how to use a powerful Uzi submachine gun on the ‘full auto’ burst fire

17:30 27 August 2014

Shooting instructor Charles Vacca was accidentally killed while teaching a nine-year-old how to use a powerful Uzi submachine gun at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range in the Mohave Desert in White Hills, Arizona. The gun recoiled as the unnamed girl pulled the trigger.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Vacca was hit in the head by a stray bullet. He was airlifted to the University Medical Centre in Las Vegas, where he was later pronounced dead.

Police released a video showing the girl wearing pink shorts and ponytail being instructed by Vacca. His final words were “All right, full auto” before he switched the setting on the weapon to go from single round fire to burst shooting. 

Sam Scarmardo, the manager of the Last Stop range, told NBC News that "the establish[ed] practice at most shooting ranges is eight-years-old and up with parental supervision." The nine-year-old girl was with her parents when the incident happened.

Friends of the instructors paid tribute to him on Facebook. His best friend Robert Vera said: “He became a brother and a major part of my life through thick and thin. Rest In Peace brother.”