Arizona firing instructor Charles Vacca, 39, was shot in the head and killed after the 9-year-old girl he was training lost control of her Uzi.
Mr. Vacca was airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas, but died, BBC reported.
The girl was firing the Uzi when it recoiled over her shoulder, CNN reported.
The website for the shooting range, Bullets and Burgers, said that children between the ages of 8 and 17 are allowed to fire weapons, so long as their parents are with them.
Cell phone video released by authorities show the seconds leading up to the shooting, beginning with a clip of a distant target being blown in the wind. Mr. Vacca is then seen showing the girl how to hold the weapon, and set her stance properly, CNN reported.
The girl then fires off a round and dirt kicks up by the target. Mr. Vacca then makes adjustments to the Uzi and puts one hand on her back, the other under her right arm. The video then shows her firing off several rounds — but then the weapon kicks left and she loses control of it. The video abruptly ends, CNN reported.
KLAS said the girl was touring the region with her parents, and they were from the Northeast.
“We really don’t know what happened,” Sam Scarmardo, the range operator, told CNN. “Our guys are trained to basically hover over people when they’re shooting. If they’re shooting right-handed, we have our right-hand behind them ready to push the weapon out of the way. And if they’re left-handed, the same thing.”
Mr. Vacca was a veteran who was also married, KLAS reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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