http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/30/shell.explosion.ap/index.html

BAKERSFIELD, California (AP) -- A military shell given to a group of children by a neighbor exploded while they played with it, killing two children and injuring five others, police and witnesses said.
Police were investigating the cause of Tuesday's explosion, which damaged homes and forced neighbors to wrap bloodied and dazed children in blankets.
"As you can imagine, this was a traumatic experience for the kids and their parents," said Bakersfield Police Detective Greg Terry. "So it's going to take a while to sort things out,"
Andrew Etcheverry, 8, died at the scene, and Jeni Marie Klawitter, 7, died at the Kern Medical Center, the county coroner said.
The victims, the oldest 12 years old, suffered minor to moderate injuries. Police had initially reported that six children were injured but determined that a girl thought to be hurt was not at the scene when it exploded.
Frank Sendejo, who lives near the apartment complex where the explosion occurred, said Wednesday he had given a group of children a 40 mm shell. Police said they have talked with Sendejo.
Sendejo told The Bakersfield Californian that he thought the shell was spent and often used it as a "conversation piece." He said the firing pin and bottom shell casing had been removed, along with the gun powder inside.
"I thought it was harmless," he told the newspaper.
There have been no arrests or charges in the case.

That's tragic. He had no way of knowing, but still, I don't think I'd give little kids a HE shell to play with unless I was absolutely certain there wasn't even any explosive left in it.

Doesn't that guy know, you're only supposed to give children white phos.... Hold on that joke is in such bad taste even I'm disgusted at myself.

It would have been more appropriate if it had gone off in the hands of the idiot himself. People need to wise up about ordnance, these aren't toys, EVER.

A tragic story...

A kid living next to our camp lost two of his fingers while playing with 12.7 mm blanks he found in the trenches. His dad was colonel at that time...

This guy wasn't a mental giant as far as I can see. ANY ordnance is considered live, unless it has been demil'd and has been marked as being "demil'd". This croaker should be hung up by his thumbs and whipped - imagine two children killed and five others injured. His thoughtlesness has resulted in children being killed and a community being traumatized because his brain decided to take a vacation on that day.

How sad.

What kind of an idiot gives live ordinance to kids? For that matter, what kind of idiot keeps live explosive shells in his house. This story reminds me of a situation that happen in update NY, some guy kept 2 75mm shells from WWII as a souvinir in his basement. He didnt touch or handle it, they were simply on display. Everything was fine for decades, Then one day...BOOM!

Geez, I hope those boxes of surplus 7.62x39mm ammo in my basement doesn't decide to go off.

It is surprising just what turns up in house clearances these days, some old boy has passed on and they find all his World War souvenirs, any thing from live naval shells to mortar rounds and German bombs from the blitz

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

It is surprising just what turns up in house clearances these days, some old boy has passed on and they find all his World War souvenirs, any thing from live naval shells to mortar rounds and German bombs from the blitz

Reminds me of my old man, he has about two kilos of German black powder plates in the addict, better tell him to remove that stuff... Or well, make that 1.5 kilos as we when being kids nicked a few and made fire crackers of them...