Man shoots off firework from top of his head, dies instantly

Well at least he died doing what he loved, drinking and shooting fireworks.

Another redneck hillbilly and his fireworks.

http://www.newsday.com/long-is...610558?firstfree=yes

Another recent contender for the Darwin Award (blank those blankety blank alligators):

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/04/...or-attack/index.html

A man who apparently mocked alligators, then jumped in the water -- despite warning signs -- is dead after being attacked in Texas.

Marina near the Louisiana state line early Friday morning after reports that Tommie Woodward, 28, and an unidentified woman were swimming in a bayou and had been attacked by a large alligator.

Woodward's body was found several hours later. The woman was not injured.

Orange County Justice of the Peace Rodney Price told CNN affiliate KFDM that Woodward ignored verbal warnings and a posted "No Swimming Alligators" sign and seemed to mock the deadly creatures before going in the water.

"He removed his shirt, removed his billfold ... someone shouted a warning and he said'blank the alligators' and jumped in to the water and almost immediately yelled for help," Price said.

Stupid hurts, or kills.

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"No Swimming Alligators"

Did he think the sign meant the alligators couldn't swim there? I wonder how much of his body they found?

The age old question of how many beers does one have to consume before jumping into alligator infested waters has finally been answered; unfortunately, the only person counting is not around anymore.

Blank the alligators! 

At least he took his wallet out first, made identification much easier.

____________________________________

Wonder of it was made of gator hide.

"No Swimming Alligators"

Did he think the sign meant the alligators couldn't swim there? I wonder how much of his body they found?

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I would guess the amount of body parts would depend on the regularity

of the gator. You can't roller skate in a alligator herd, or something.

What a shame indeed, apparently he was a "classy mother******". How many of those can we afford to lose?

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...late-night-swim.html

I hope he took that hat off first, nice hat. Matter of fact that's a classy

shirt, hope they bury him in the mother ******........

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Yeah, LOW class!

Dang Cdung, show more respect for the dead. He's labeled classy, leave

at that.......

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Well, I can understand why an unreconstructed clod like you would come to the defense of another unreconstructed clod.

Because I don't hate people in general as you do. You're the typical

hypocrite Christian I read you to be years ago. You understand very little.

His brother said he was not the kind of person who would do something stupid? I would call blowing his head off stupid.

Now his family is making excuses for his recklessness and stupidity, and calling for tighter controls for fireworks. A drunk with fireworks, what stricter/tighter controls would stop them? Anyone have any idea about the "mortar" firework that killed him?

This guy was just a copycat.  Another Mensa candidate did this same thing a week earlier but didn't get the attention this one did.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/...work-death/29470091/  If he were still alive I bet he would be bummed that he was first but the second nitwit gets all the press.  It looks like the Darwin Awards may have to set up a subcategory for self inflicted fireworks death.  Texas man tried a variation yesterday by killing himself with a shot off of his chest. http://abc13.com/news/colorado...on-his-chest/833707/  If I were a betting man I would bet alcohol was a factor in all of these.  I would like to see the stats on fireworks injuries or deaths involving marijuana use.

I'm sure there are deaths from accidents or whatever with marijuana smokers. I know a lot of criminals use the excuse that they were 'smoking weed and messed up on weed' to try to excuse their criminal actions. I don't have any use for either of them, a drunk or a dope head, and usually they're both. Still interested in what he put on his head.

All of the reports that I have read have vaguely referred to a "mortar tube".  There are large professional versions and smaller civilian versions.  I would not speculate as to which this was.  Rarely a catastrophic failure occurs and the tube ruptures.  What I have read suggests tube rupture but  this hasn't been clearly stated.

Sure there have been deaths related to marijuana intoxication but I suspect the number to be quite low when compared to alcohol intoxication, just my opinion.

Sure there have been deaths related to marijuana intoxication but I suspect the number to be quite low when compared to alcohol intoxication, just my opinion.

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Could be, I don't know.

For what it's worth, this site has a bit on it.

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Which drugs are linked to drugged driving?

After alcohol, marijuana is the drug most often linked to drugged driving. Tests for detecting marijuana in drivers measure the level of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana’s active ingredient, in the blood. In the 2013-2014 National Roadside Survey, 12.6 percent of drivers on weekend nights tested positive for THC. This was significantly higher than the 8.6 percent who tested positive in 2007 (Berning, 2015).

How often does drugged driving cause accidents?

It is hard to measure how many accidents drugged driving causes. This is because:

• a good roadside test for drug levels in the body does not yet exist
• people are not usually tested for drugs if they are above the legal limit for alcohol because there is already enough evidence for a DUI charge
• many drivers who cause accidents are found to have both drugs and alcohol or more than one drug in their system, making it hard to know which substance had the greater effect

One NHTSA study found that in 2009, 18 percent of drivers killed in an accident tested positive for at least one drug—an increase from 13 percent in 2005 (NHTSA, 2010). A 2010 study showed that 11.4 percent of fatal crashes involved a drugged driver (Wilson, 2010).

Why is drugged driving a problem in teens and young adults?

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among young people aged 16 to 19 (Teen Drivers, 2014). Teens are more likely than older drivers to underestimate or not recognize dangerous situations. They are also more likely to speed and allow less distance between vehicles (Teen Drivers, 2014). When lack of driving experience is combined with drug use, the results can be tragic.

Data from a 2011 survey of middle and high school students showed that in the 2 weeks before the survey, the number of 12th-grade students who had driven after using (O’Malley, 2013):

• marijuana was 12.4 percent
• other illicit drugs was 2.4 percent
• alcohol was 8.7 percent

A study of college students with access to a car found that 1 in 6 (about 17 percent) had driven under the influence of a drug other than alcohol at least once in the past year. Of those students, 57 to 67 percent did so at least three times and 27 to 37 percent at least 10 times. Marijuana was the most common drug used, followed by cocaine and prescription opioids (Arria, 2011).

Because drugged driving puts people at an increased risk for accidents, public health experts urge drug and alcohol users to develop social strategies to prevent them from getting behind the wheel of a car while impaired. Steps people can take include:

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publi...acts/drugged-driving

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/to...he-123513741117.html

It is hard to measure how many accidents drugged driving causes. This is because:

• a good roadside test for drug levels in the body does not yet exist
• people are not usually tested for drugs if they are above the legal limit for alcohol because there is already enough evidence for a DUI charge
• many drivers who cause accidents are found to have both drugs and alcohol or more than one drug in their system, making it hard to know which substance had the greater effect

These factors are ignored by the proponents of legalizing marijuana.

The best method to detect THC is a blood test resulting from

treating injuries, or

autopsies.  

In my opinion urine testing is much more sensitive to detect THC usage, the blood levels are great for confirming the actual levels of THC in the body. You have to test for the metabolites, since that is the active part, and the metabolites of THC excrete pretty quickly.  They do however hang around in the fat for a while as well, and you can detect usage up to 10 days later in some people. Rumor has it that there may be a dipstick test for field usage very soon that will show presence of metabolites.  This will of course necessitate a blood level testing and confirmation if charges are applicable.

A customer at Burkart's Marina in Orange on Monday said he shot and killed an 11-foot alligator he believed was involved in a deadly attack on an Orange man Friday.

The man, who identified himself only as "Bear," said he set a trap out of his boat with chicken as bait and caught the 400-pound reptile before he killed it with a shotgun.

"He had to go," Bear said. "That's what happens when you kill someone."

Game wardens cut open the reptile Monday evening and found remains of Orange man Tommie Woodward's body in the animal's throat, said Rodney Price, Justice of the Peace, Pct. 4.

"Bear" and four other men were taking pictures of the alligator when game wardens arrived at the marina and the men left in a boat.

The gator apparently was shot in the head and dragged from the water.

Woodward, 28, showed up Thursday night at the marina, located at 1802 Mississippi St., with a young woman and told the staff closing the restaurant that he was going to jump in the bayou, said Allen Burkart, who has owned the family-friendly place selling beer and hamburgers for 50 years.

Despite the sign, "No Swimming. Alligators," and staff's warning, Woodward entered the water and died in Texas' first fatal alligator attack in nearly two centuries.

Capt. Rod Ousley, with the Texas Parks Wildlife - Beaumont District, said killing an alligator is a class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500.

The men who claim they shot the animal should have called the department and waited for a game warden, Ousley said.

"It sounds like somebody just took it upon themselves to kill the animal," Ousley said.

Ousley said the meat might have rotted by the time game wardens skin the animals, but the hide will be removed and sold, he said. The animal's death also will be recorded in a data base.

Woodward's cause of death is still unknown, pending autopsy reports.

Ousley said his team was investigating whether anyone notified Texas Parks and Wildlife of the alligator's presence.

"We're still backtracking to make sure a nuisance control hunter was notified. So far in the investigation, the answer is no," Ousley said.

Capt. Robert Enmon with the Orange police department said Friday he suspects Woodward drowned, though his injuries were serious enough to cause death.

Woodward suffered major trauma to his left arm and puncture wounds to his upper left chest, Enmon said. He suspects the man drowned, but the cause of death is still pending autopsy results, he said.

Officers went out on a boat Friday at about 2:30 a.m. along with a game warden from Texas Parks and Wildlife. They found the man's body about 4:30 a.m.

Burkart said he is glad to see the animal go. He told The Enterprise Friday he first saw the alligator a few weeks ago and up the sign to keep people from swimming.

"A thing that big can chase you all the way out here," Burkart said pointing at the boat ramp.

Enterprise photographer Jake Daniels contributed to this report.

 http://www.beaumontenterprise....-s-death-6369166.php