Artillery Shell Crashes Into Ottawa County Home's Bedroom Wall

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says in a freak accident, a projectile fired from a howitzer during a gun show traveled almost three miles and crashed into a home in Wyandotte Saturday evening.

Deputies told KOAM TV, the CBS affiliate in Joplin, Missouri, the residents inside the home were not injured.

The artillery projectile from the 105-millimeter howitzer hit the home of Gene and Jeanne Kelley about 9:30 p.m. The round was about 14-inches long and 3.5-inches wide.

"It's unbelievable. Unless you were here to see it, or see the pictures I've got, you would not believe how huge this thing is," Kelley said.

The home is almost three miles from the Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot and Trade Show that was held in Wyandotte during the weekend. The howitzer was listed on the show's website as a new attraction. 

The gun range owner told KOAM TV, the weapon was fired safely by professionals at a downward projection.

"It was not on a level plane, but on a downward trend, pointed downhill in the bottom of a valley," said Mike Friend, Owner of Fast Machine Gun Shoot. "For that thing to rise and go far northwest of the range, it's just unheard of."

The weapon's owner has agreed to pay for all damages to the Kelley home, but Kelley hopes it's taken as a safety lesson learned.

"The people that bring these type of weapons need to think ‘is this really a safe and appropriate area for me to take my weapon of that magnitude,'" he said.

Owners of the range say they are taking every measure to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

6/22/2014 Related Story: Wyandotte Event Allows People To Test Exotic, Fully Automatic Weapons