Man wearing bullet-proof vest asked his friend to shoot him. She complied.

[apples and oranges]

Here is one of those stories that should come with a warning: Do not try this at home.

Blake Wardell and about eight to 10 friends were hanging out at his South Carolina home when they decided to try on a bulletproof vest and have someone shoot them -- with live bullets.

Wardell, 26, donned the vest but the shooter, a woman, missed the Kevlar, hitting him in the chest, according to authorities cited in published reports.

Wardell, bled to death after being shot in the chest. His death has been ruled a homicide. And the shooter, 18-year-old Taylor Ann Kelly, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting. She could face up to five years in prison.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/05/man_26_dies_testing_bullet-pro.html

[Iggo]

1. Mmm-hmm.

[mike_c]

2. hold my beer and watch this....

Sheesh.

[gcomeau]

3. Yeah... we really need to get more guns into the hands of people like this.

You know, to make us all safer...

[Egnever]

4. Sounds like culling the heard to me

Darwin award winners to be sure.

[NV Whino]

5. Missed the Kevlar and hit him in the chest?

Where was he wearing the vest?

[Rex]

8. I'm guessing the shoulder region/upper chest, since the story really doesn't make any sense to me.

Here let me put on the vest so you can shoot me in the chest...

[NV Whino]

21. The way I aim, you'd better wear it on your head.

[Rex]

22. Someone else mentioned maybe they had it on backwards.

Which, at first I would dismiss as too stupid to be true...but then again, we are talking about some idiot that asked to be shot on purpose.

[gcomeau]

10. Probably had it tugged down as low as he could...

...trying to cover the really vital part of his anatomy...

[baldguy]

29. his brains?

[sofa king]

27. Must've been a fashionable V-neck

[Rex]

6. Stupid is as stupid does.

So what kind of bullet proof vest doesn't protect the subjects chest? Sounds like some details are being left out. I guess they mean the part of the chest not covered by the vest?

[lostincalifornia]

7. another Darwin award goes to...

[immoderate]

9. Entitled to a refund on the vest, I would think.

--imm

[spanone]

11. exercising their 2nd amendment rights

[Nye Bevan]

12. Did he put it on back to front?

On a more serious note, it is absurd that lessons, safety training and testing is required for people to be allowed to drive cars, but idiots like these are allowed to own guns without any training at all.

[Warpy]

13. I suppose he's already been nominated for the Darwin Award.

I just wonder if "Bubba, hold my beer and watch this!" preceded the shot.

[CTyankee]

24. The guy was probably drunk. Sheesh.

[Warpy]

30. No more than any group of suburban guys drinking a beer and kicking back

Cops said the whole bunch of them were this side of sober.

He was just stupid. "Hey, shoot me, honey, I'm wearing a vest!" has got to be one of the dumbest exit lines I've ever heard.

[CTyankee]

33. well, if he was sober, that's even more scary...

what's he doing walking around with guns? Hadn't anybody noticed he was mentally deficient? Or (maybe worse) nobody around him knew any better...oy...

[Warpy]

35. That's why it's such a perfect Darwin Award

He very nicely removed himself from the gene pool. It's just too bad his girlfriend will be in prison for a few years. Apparently she was goaded into shooting.

[CTyankee]

39. If she was that dumb not to turn his request down and walk away, I hope she doesn't

reproduce either...

[KG]

14. responsible gun ownery is on the march!

[Initech]

15. Were they imitating Super Troopers?

[SidDithers]

36. Two thumbs up...

Great movie.

Sid

[Initech]

37. "Here you go, don't get puke on it!"

[brooklynite]

16. South Carolina?

Well, of course...

[Journeyman]

17. "Hey, we're good & drunk. Here's a gun. Let's put it away before we hurt ourselves." . . .

At my drunkest -- and I blacked out on many occasion -- I never thought fartin' around with firearms would be a fun thing to do.

[upaloopa]

18. This a gun nut who would die for his 2A rights

What the hell good are they now dumb shit?
At least they didn't have to take the gun out of his cold dead hand.

[Jenoch]

19. I don't know why reporters and people on this thread as well

keep using the term 'bullet proof' vest. There is no such thing. They are accurately called 'bullet resistant' vests.

The woman was probably not standing directly in front of the idiot with the vest and shot him under his armpit.

[penultimate]

28. because the term bulletproof vest is what they are called and marketed as

It also says she missed and didn't hit vest. Perhaps he was wearing it wrong, it hit the upper part of the chest(more like the neck area), or even the side under the arm.

[Paladin]

20. But...But...Wasn't it one of those Really COOL Vests?

You know, like some of the "militia" types were wearing on the Bundy place, the kind of vest one of our own DU'ers was touting a few days ago (link included)? It must not have been one of THOSE vests, huh?

[Lint Head]

23. Nothing like good old American Fun with Guns!

[yuiyoshida]

25. I think this might be one of those kind of posts where

Words are simply not effective. I can only shake my head.

[liberal N proud]

26. I expected this story to be from Florida

[dawg]

31. I don't think she should go to prison, though.

There was no intent to do harm, just rank stupidity. They should make her do community service or something.

[IronLionZion]

32. The guys at the bundy ranch should try this

to prove how tough they are. What could go wrong?

[SidDithers]

34. Darwin Award nominee, surely...nt

Sid

[Skidmore]

38. Link to additional information on these two.

http://www.inquisitr.com/1253533/blake-wardell/

Interesting article.

[struggle4progress]

40. Next week: We jump off a high building to test our theory that gravity is an illusion

And later this season: Can a paper napkin soaked in saltwater protect you from molten copper? Let's find out!

[struggle4progress]

41. "Blake Wardell, who according to his family had a history of mental illness,

was with a group of friends in the early hours of Wednesday morning when they found an old bullet-proof vest in the home where they were hanging out ... So Wardell put on the vest and asked one of his friends there, an 18-year-old recent grad of Belton Honea Path High School named Taylor Ann Kelly, to test out the aging body armor — by shooting him. The young woman obliged him ... Sadly, the bullet missed the vest’s protective Kevlar and pierced Blake Wardell’s chest ... Kelly, whose own Facebook page features numerous images of herself brandishing firearms, was charged with involuntary manslaughter ..."
Mentally Ill Man Asks Teen Girl To Shoot Him To ‘Test’ Bulletproof Vest, Doesn’t End Well

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

42. One less vote for Ted Cruz or Rand Paul nt