Teen girl victim of 3rd accidental shooting in 3-day span

A 19-year-old Laurel woman suffered a gunshot in the cheek while her boyfriend’s father was unloading a handgun and it went off in an adjacent room on Tuesday night, according to a report from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department.

Shauna Lovett had a 9mm bullet lodged in the roof of her mouth when Deputy Robert Yates arrived at the residence in the 1100 block of Tower Road, just south of Ellisville, a little after 7:45 p.m.

Lovett had a wound to her right cheek and was “bleeding heavily from her mouth,” according to the report, but she was able to answer questions and told Yates and medical personnel from EMServ Ambulance that she could feel the bullet in the roof of her mouth.

David Anthony Pool, 47, told the deputy that he was in a bedroom unloading the Taurus 9mm handgun when it went off and the projectile went through a wall and struck Lovett, who was sitting on a couch in the living room. Pool said that the firearm was missing a part and when he “racked the slide, there was a round in the chamber that didn’t eject” and when he “let the slide go forward on the round in the chamber the gun went off.”

His son David Joseph Pool, 20, was sitting beside Lovett on the couch when he heard the shot and saw that she had been struck in the face, according to the report.

Yates noted that there was a hole in the bedroom wall and the handgun was on top of a pile of clothes in the bedroom with a loaded magazine. The scene was secured for Investigators Denny Graham and Troy Lewis to come and process it.

It appears to be an accidental shooting, Graham said.

Lovett was transported by EMServ to Forrest General Hospital for treatment. A volunteer emergency medical responder from Moselle Volunteer Fire Department also assisted.

It was the third accidental shooting in a three-day period that the JCSD has been called to investigate. On Saturday night, 11-year-old Gauge Chancellor was shot in the head with a .22-caliber rifle in a hunting accident in Ovett and died Tuesday. On Sunday morning, 36-year-old Willie Hall Lack was hit “between the eyes” with a bullet from a .380-caliber handgun that was under a hunting rifle he was attempting to retrieve from a closet shelf. He and Lovett are both expected to recover from their injuries.

In a press release, the JCSD reminded gun owners to “practice firearms safety, including treating every gun as if it’s loaded, practicing muzzle discipline and keeping firearms pointed in a safe direction.”