"Hey, I wonder what happens if we shoot somebody in the head with this"
http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/jul ... ded_man_h/
Full text since news sites eventually remove articles
Potato gunman at large in Hanahan case that landed man in hospital
By Nita Birmingham (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Friday, July 6, 2007
HANAHAN — Officers sent to investigate reports of someone lying in the road Wednesday night found a man with massive head injuries and only one clue as to how he got them: bits of raw potato.
The fragments scattered around 29-year-old David Shafer left police to conclude he likely was shot with a potato gun, Lt. Mike Fowler said. Detectives haven't been able to interview Shafer, who is in critical condition at Medical University Hospital.
"It's the damndest thing I've ever seen," Fowler said.
Passers-by alerted police at 10:17 p.m. that a man was lying in the middle of Berkeley Street near Murray Drive, Fowler said. Many Hanahan officers are familiar with Shafer, who doesn't have a permanent address, he said.
Shafer didn't have any bullet wounds and didn't appear to have been beaten in the head, Fowler said. That left the potato.
"Unless he wakes up and can tell us what's going on, that's all we know," Fowler said.
A potato gun usually is made from plastic water pipe and is designed to launch a tuber to distances of more than 300 yards, according to The Spudgun Technology Center in Wisconsin, now in its 11th year on the Internet. The site includes instructions on how to build a spud gun.
The spud gun fires from the combustion of fuel, usually hair spray, although the Center said that certain brands of deodorant, anti-static products, automotive starting fluid (ether), propane and butane all work well. The site warns against using high-powered fuels that will cause the spud gun to blow up.
The site also includes a warning that spud guns can be dangerous when used in an unsafe manner. It cautions against looking down the barrel of a loaded spud gun and advises treating the device with the same respect as a real firearm.
A small version of the potato gun is sold at Jack's Cosmic Dogs on U.S. Highway 17 North in Mount Pleasant, which sells vintage toys. It is shaped like a gun and propels the potato by forcing air through the barrel when the trigger is squeezed, manager David Jackson said.
Jackson said he's heard of homemade potato guns that can lob a spud long distances, but the ones sold at Jack's aren't that powerful. The package still includes a safety warning.
A potato gun is not illegal in South Carolina, but criminal charges could result if it were used in a manner consistent with a deadly weapon, Deputy Solicitor Blair Jennings said. Fowler said whoever is responsible for Shafer's injuries could be charged with assault and battery with intent to kill.
