New Year's ritual leaves 1 dead, 2 hurt
Muskets fired for luck explode at party and later at stadium event
KYTJA WEIR
Staff Writer
A more than 200-year-old Gaston County New Year's tradition of firing muskets into the air left an 18-year-old dead and two other shooters injured.
But community leaders called the injuries unusual and said the accidents likely won't affect the annual tradition.
"You've got third-generation people shooting the same guns their forefathers shot," said Cherryville Mayor Bob Austell, who witnessed one of the two accidents Saturday evening. "To my knowledge, there's never been any discussion of curtailing it. In fact it's stronger right now than it's ever been."
German settlers began the celebration about 250 years ago, hoping the shots would help their crops and bring good luck. Locally the center of the tradition is in Cherryville, beginning at the stroke of midnight and continuing through the next evening.
The first -- and fatal -- shooting accident took place around 1 a.m. at a party on the 3500 block of Philadelphia Church Road outside of Dallas, Gaston County Police and a family friend said.
Matthew Shook of Gastonia and his buddies weren't part of the formal Cherryville celebrations, but had found a traditional musket to shoot for the New Year, said longtime family friend Angie McCurry.
Shook's best friend loaded the .50-caliber gun with black powder, she said, then handed it to the Gaston College student for the first shot.
But instead of the large boom they wanted, Gaston County Police said, the gun exploded.
Pieces of the metal barrel struck Shook on the side of his head, said Tim Jones, a Gaston Emergency Medical Service assistant shift supervisor who treated him.
Shook later died of the injury after being rushed to Lincoln Medical Center .
Meanwhile, about 14 miles to the west, the two groups of organized Cherryville shooters were just getting started. The groups traveled to more than 50 homes each and fired black powder from their muskets at every stop. Then a couple of hundred shooters gathered at the local stadium shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday for the finale in front of a full house. "They generally don't take powder home with them," Austell said, who attended this year's finale. "They say it's bad luck to take this year's powder home."
But the 2005 shooting ended early after one Cherryville man's musket exploded. Shrapnel flew into the shooter's chest and arm, Jones said. A piece of the gun flew backward possibly breaking another man's leg, he said.
Neither of the injuries were life-threatening, Jones said. Identities were not available Sunday.
Injuries at the event aren't common, but have happened, shooters say. Long ago, shooter Delbert McSwain said, someone shot off his fingers; another time someone was rushed to a burn center after his gunpowder caught fire. The shooting continued after both incidents, he said.
McSwain, who said he has been shooting for 51 of his 65 years, said he's never heard of anyone getting killed. The guns are very safe, he said, "if you just take a little precaution and watch what you're doing."
Even Shook's family said they didn't blame the tradition, said McCurry, their family friend.
Shook, a 2004 graduate of North Gaston High, lived with his mother and stepfather while taking classes at Gaston College .
The popular teen had never played around with guns, she said. Instead, they just wanted to hear the boom.
The family feels "like Matthew made a bad decision, just got caught up in a good time," she said. "And he made a bad choice."
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