A gender reveal party device made an explosive impact on the assembled family members shooting a piece of shrapnel through the grandmother’s head, killing her instantly.
Pamela Kreimeyer, 56, was one of six family members attending her son’s upcoming gender reveal party on Saturday in Rural Knoxville, Iowa. The party was set to begin at 4 p.m.
Kreimeyer’s son Brad and his girlfriend Kirste Rankin had been preparing on Friday and Saturday to have an explosive revelation of their yet to be born child’s gender.
“This family got together for what they thought was going to be a happy event with no intent for anyone to get hurt,” Marion County Sheriff Jason Sandholdt said, People reported.
Members of Kreimeyer’s family got together Friday to begin experimenting with “different types of explosive material” in hopes of creating a gender reveal device and recording the unveiling for friends and family on social media, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
They planned to detonate a colored powder bomb that would indicate their child’s gender, but instead of pink or light blue, the party turned black.
Inadvertently, by using gunpowder and colorants in an iron tube mounted on a metal plate, they had created a pipe bomb. As soon as the device was lit, it exploded, shooting pieces of shrapnel in all directions.
“One of these metal pieces struck Pamela Kreimeyer in the head, causing instant death. She was standing with other family members, approximately 45 feet from the device. It’s believed the projectile that struck the victim then continued for another 144 yards through the air coming to rest in a field,” the Knoxville county sheriff’s Office explained in a statement.
“This is a reminder that anytime someone mixes these things, there is a high potential for serious injury or death; please do not take these unnecessary risks,” Sandholdt said in a statement. “My condolences go out to the family,” he added.
Gender reveal parties are really on the rise in recent years, but, unfortunately, so are the accidents that come with them. Sometimes they are even used as a pretext for staging an attack. Last year, The Epoch Times reported on one such incident in Ohio.
3 Men Charged in 2017 Mass Shooting at Ohio Gender Reveal Party for Woman Who Wasn’t Pregnant
Three men were arrested in the July 2017 shooting at an Ohio gender reveal party for a woman who was later found out to be lying about her pregnancy.
Roshawn Bishop, 28, James Echols, 23, and Michael Sanon, 21, were charged on 22 counts, including murder, aggravated assault, and animal cruelty, reported The Associated Press.
The gunfire broke out at a Colerain Township in southern Ohio, killing 22-year-old Autum Garrett, of Indiana.
Three children and a dog were shot. Police later determined the shooting was targeted and a drug-related incident after multiple witnesses were connected to drug rings, AP reported.
GENDER REVEAL PARTY SHOOTING: Three men were charged in a shooting that left one person dead and eight wounded at a gender reveal party for a woman who wasn't pregnant. https://abc7.ws/2ETwBUW
اس پر ABC 7 Chicago نے شائع کیا جمعرات، 27 دسمبر، 2018
The party was being held for 21-year-old Cheyanne Willis, who said she suffered a miscarriage after being shot in the leg. Investigators learned she wasn’t actually pregnant.
Garrett, the slain woman, was Willis’s cousin. Her husband and two children were injured. Police did not say whether Garrett or her family had connections to any drug activity, saying it was likely a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Another 8-year-old boy was also wounded.
Morgan Bradley, 24, Elijah Clemons, 26, and Lori White, 51, were also shot.
The armed men entered a home where about a dozen people were staying to watch a movie. They entered through an unlocked door and opened fire before leaving the scene.
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report