I just added this one to the Accidents sticky. After reading it It appears from what is written the this thing had no trunnions or mount.
Man charged in firework cannon accident (Grand Rapids, September 21, 2005, 11:55 a.m.) A man accused of making a homemade cannon and shooting a firework that severely injured a woman was charged with the crime Wednesday morning.
The Kent County Sheriff's Department says it happened July 4 in the 13000 block of Grand River Drive in Lowell Township. The firework shot through the passenger side window of a vehicle, hitting the passenger, 65-year-old Francis Thomas. Thomas suffered a broken collarbone, fractured facial injuries, and some smashed teeth.
Twenty-year-old Nicholas Stormzand of Lowell says he never intended for that firework to smash through Thomas' car. She says she believes him. Still, that changes little, as Thomas is disfigured, has tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and awaits more operations. Friends held a fundraiser Saturday to help with some of the costs.
Stormzand didn't want to talk on camera, but spoke freely without a microphone on to 24 Hour News 8 about the incident.
Stormzand says it wasn't a pipe bomb, but rather a Fourth of July cannon, something he had made time and time before out of used car parts.
The piece of a pickup drive shaft, weighing more than ten pounds, was filled with gun powder and paper towels, and had a fuse attached to it. Stormzand says it was only supposed to make a loud noise and not go anywhere.
He says he shot it off 50 times that day, which wasn't a problem. But for some reason, one that he can't explain, it shot off backwards hundreds of yards and hit the window of the Thomas' moving car.
Still difficult to speak, with hardly a memory of that day, Thomas sat in the courtroom Wednesday and watched the proceedings.
"Well, I don't think he intentionally planned on hurtin' me. But yeah, you gotta forgive in order to keep going," she told 24 Hour News 8 after the hearing.
She says probation, such as community service like working in a hospital with victims like herself, would bring justice. Her daughter, though, wishes the state could do more.
"But the state of Michigan should look at something a little stiffer, not just for pipe bombs and fireworks, I'm saying for any serious accidental injuries," said Thomas' daughter.
Stormzand is now charged with use of an illegal firearm.
24 Hour News 8 spoke to Kent County Prosecutor Bill Forsythe who says he is working with the prosecutor's association and West Michigan legislators to try to beef up the law. Forsythe would like the use of an illegal firework that causes injury to be a two-year felony, just like it is for vehicles and for firearms.
