WPT Help Please Do You Remember Details of Spring Grand Gallery / Crowd Shooting?

WPT I don't know if you were running The Phoenix Trap & Skeet Club in 1978 or not but do remember the incident when a shooter's gun broke and shot the into the crowd at the Spring Grand? My memory says it was 1978 but it could have been a year or two latter than that. Here is what I remember.

A squad of Iowa Shooters, that I know had Don Ewing on it ,were shooting Sundays Handicap. Back then was way before adjustable stocks and the Perazzi Gun Company had their stocks numbered so when a shooter needed a higher or lower stock they would change the stock on the gun. This happened all the time and from what I remember this is what led to the crowd getting shot.

I can't remember the name of the guy who did this but I remember the first name of the woman from Ohio that got shot in the back, Kitty, I don't know if that was her real name or a nick name but she was from the Columbus, Ohio area.

The Iowa shooter had put a different stock on his Perazzi but failed to tighten the stock screw and when he closed his gun the stock stayed in his hand and the rest of the gun flipped out of his hand and hit the ground. The gun went off when it hit the ground and shot between the shooter and Don Ewing back into the crowd. hitting several people but as I remember Kitty got the worse of it.

This was all pretty much swept under the rug back then. I can remember seeing this woman's back latter and she had a pretty good peppered area on it, she was far enough away that she wasn't killed and It was lucky no one was.

 

Could the lady have been the late Kitty Snelenberger from Ohio?

 

That's a good guess but I knew that Kitty very well and it was a different one. but thanks.

 

I can only imagine the damage. That could end a shooters and spectators career quickly. Here I was worried about people shooting traphouses or speaker cords, never thought about spectators. Could a target load really kill someone at spectator distance? I could see losing eyesight and such.

 

I don’t think there is much of a chance of a spectator getting shot at Sparta.

 

Brad,
That was before my time but I heard the story from a few of the older guys who were there, cannot recall the name ... Before getting involved with the club I came out one year for the Spring Grand, ended up winning a really nice belt buckle, that was the first time I laid eyes on the club until I moved out this way ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

I remember that incident well. I was questioned as a witness in one of the lawsuits that followed. There were several lawsuits. I was a vendor at the shoot. 1978 was about right for the year but I am not sure.

The shooter was from Onawa Iowa and was left handed. He had purchased a new stock from a well known vendor from Kansas. His buddy ( also on the squad and from Souix City) "installed" it for him. The problem was that the stock was a tight fit on the TM-1 but the stock bolt had not engaged at all into the receiver. The only thing that was holding the stock on was friction. Don Ewing was on the squad but was not the shooter.

The shooter was on post one or two ( I can't remember for sure). I believe he had shot at least one post before the incident happened. When he closed the gun the stock came off and the gun went back over his right shoulder and discharged when it hit the ground pointing back and to the right.

As I recall, several people got hit. Some got hit with sand and gravel. The lawsuit that I was involved in was a man that got a pellet in the eye. They questioned me because my vendor area was right behind the trap where it happened.

Very bad deal! Considering how close the sidewalk was to the 27 yard line at the Phoenix Trap and Skeet Club, it is amazing that no one got killed.

Bruce Bowen
Sturgis SD

 

What does that have to do with the post or my comment. See you at the Grand in Sparta!

 

Bran M.
It is called an observation and the man's opinion, what's the problem with that ...? WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

I didn’t know this thread had anything to do with Sparta, but I forgot almost every post ends up talking about Sparta. Thanks!

 

Brad M.
The only one who seems to have a soft spot, sore spot, spot of some sort about anything/any place is you, majority of others care less about the place, if it opens or if it don't ... If you think the Pathetic attendance records from the past 15/16 years are something to be proud of you are the one with the problem ... I was actually in Sparta before anyone had a thought of building a facility there, I have not been there since and have NO Desire to go there for any reason, was offered a deal to come and shoot, the guy was going to pay for all of the targets I wanted to shoot, had to turn down his more than generous offer ... Get over it, no matter how nice the facility is in the majority of peoples eyes its a loser, no body thinks about it or cares about it , that much I can assure you ... Think Cardinal Center, now your talking ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Thanks Bruce. I just was kind of wondering how it all worked out. I think the woman may have been Kitty Swanson but not sure. If I still had my old average books I'd look it up. I remember now about the left hand/right hand stock deal.

 

There it is again. Sparta, Attendance, not the place everyone wanted it to move, crappy state. It just keeps getting brought up. Over and over again. I get it, it just gets old. It's amazing how a thread about an event that happened in 1978 gets turned in a Sparta thread. It didn't have anything to do with it. I have never heard this story. It was very interesting to hear about the incident.

Thanks Brad D for the great story. I know we don't see eye to eye on just about anything, but I enjoy hearing about the way back days non-Vandalia Grand. Lots of great shooters who I wish I could meet and hear about the good ole days. Travelling to shoots in the 70's and 80's must of been a interesting experience.

 

BRAD D & Bruce
If that had happened at Vandalia on one of the big dawg squads it could have been a catastrophe. Kids were catching ejected shells as they popped over the railing. There were huge crowds following some of those squads. No worries about that now in Illinois. lol If someone timed an event like that he could have taken out a tractor of people going by too.

Great story!

 

I had not heard of this accident before but have included it in my files on shooting related accidents dating back to 1845.

A trusted source has informed me that the lady struck by shot was Kitty (Janice) Weitkamp, wife of Dick (Richard) Weitkamp of Burns, Wyoming.

It was explained to me that: "Ed Place used to sell Bill Plessinger shooting vests back then and was from the Phoenix area so always a vendor during Phoenix events. He had two step-daughters, Mary and Kathy Sullivan, who assisted him at the vendor site. The final handicap was underway and vendors were inn the process of shutting down when the incident happened. Mary just happened to be riding with her boyfriend on one of the people-mover wagons directly behind the field. He caught a single shot pellet in one eye and ended up blind in that eye."

I only found two small newspaper reports from January 23, 1978.

​

Research leads me to believe that Janice and Dick were only married a few months (Sept. 22, 1977). Janice was from Lake Worth, FL and in 1976 shot under the name of Janice Kwiecinski. She divorced from her previous husband Lee "Nick" Profaci in May of 1973.

Brad, I was asked this question: "if this was the same year Brad and Leo was thinking about buying the military surplus half-track with their winnings from the winter chain shoots?"

A following comment: "That's sure to start a whole different discussion!"

So, what's that story about Mr. Dysinger?

I thank our trusted source for helping provide additional information and hope readers find it interesting.

HB

 

The MAN is TRULY Amazing .... HB you the MAN ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Thanks Kenny I knew you would find the answer. After I heard Kitty's last name I remembered it. Yes this was the year that Leo and I were looking at the half track in Las Vegas. Back then the chain shoot went from the Spring Grand, to Bob Taylor's and then the Mint. We shot for 4 weeks. The first shoot that year we shot was Shot Yard. (I think) Sadly all those clubs are out of business.

Leo and I were splinting our winnings back then and we did pretty well in those four weeks, I never did get a half track.

 

Brad I was there that day and a friend of mine was on the squad. Yes the lady was from Florida and one man lost an eye. My friend said the discharge went between the shooters to his right. A foot either way and someone would have died. Safety should be top priority and when a gun has problems always stop and either fix it or drop out and let the squad continue. J.R. Long

 

Thanks J.R. I knew it was serious and that it was swept under the table really fast. I'd heard some about the law suits but to be honest with you I wasn't paying much attention that year as Ann and I got married that March.