Navy man shoots friend while playing a war game
25-year-old Clinton Echols was taken into custody on Thursday under suspicion that he shot his friend, Luis Urbina, while playing a war video game. Echols was initially taken in for questioning on Wednesday and was later released, but as the story unraveled, police arrested the man. Echols failed to call the police immediately and sadly, by the time assistance arrived, it was too late to save Urbina. This, coupled with other dubious claims in Echols’ explanation led to his arrest. Echols said that he was showing off his gun while the two were playing video games, though it was accidentally fired and resulted in a bullet hitting his friend in the chest.
It is unclear at this time if video games took on a more prominent role than Echolos was willing to let on, if it really was an accidental shooting, or something else entirely. An autopsy was scheduled for Echols’ body on Thursday and could lead to further answers. Both men were sailors and served on the USS Ronald Reagan.
