The Fourth of July holiday resulted in plenty of the usual sunburns and hangovers. Last night’s celebrations turned tragic for one man, whose evening revelry started in a very normal, reasonable way. Unfortunately, he tried to impress his friends and died in the process.
Police say Devon Staples attended a party with pals where he got a little too sauced and decided to launch a mortar tube off his head:
Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in the small eastern Maine city of Calais, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. Staples, 22, of Calais, placed a fireworks mortar tube on his head and set it off, he said.
The firework exploded, killing Staples instantly, McCausland said.
Maine legalized fireworks in 2012, thereby repealing a 1949 law in favor of increased jobs and revenue. Staples is the first fatality since this legalization.
(via The Big Story)