Hunter accidentally kills self with muzzle-loading rifle

Herald-Leader Staff Report

WAYNESBURG — A Lincoln County man died Saturday morning after accidentally shooting himself with a .50-caliber muzzle-loading rifle.

Kevin Manuel, 22, of Waynesburg was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m. Saturday at Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford, said Lincoln County Coroner Bill Demrow.

Manuel was preparing to go deer hunting when the loaded gun caught on a cabinet handle and accidentally discharged. The blast went through the ceiling and roof of the house.

“It's just a freak accident,” Demrow said. “It's a one-in-a-million thing.”

Manuel had married this fall and he and his wife were expecting their first child, Demrow said.