17-year-old shot in head during target practice, and 2 teens are charged, GA cops say

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Mitchell Willetts
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Candace Chrzan was shooting plastic bottles in the backyard with friends this week — four, including her — when the .22 pistol she was firing suddenly jammed, according to police.

She handed the pistol to classmate Jeremy Gray, and he got to work trying to clear the malfunction from what was once his grandfather’s gun, police say. The older man was a bit of a collector when it came to firearms, according to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, and after his death the gun passed on to Gray.

Exactly why it went off in his hands, police didn’t say during a Friday press conference, but it did, and a round hit 17-year-old Chrzan in the head.

Gray, 17, tried to render aid, tried to save Chrzan or keep her alive until help arrived on Tuesday, but it didn’t work, police said. When authorities arrived, Gray was “visibly, physically shaken, and struck with grief.”

The whole town of Mount Zion is feeling some shade of grief, too, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Ashley Hulsey said.

“This has really hit home,” she said. “Mount Zion is a very small, tight-knit community where everybody knows each other.”

There’s also anger in Mount Zion, as one teen’s face started circulating around town in a Snapchat video after the accident, making threats of revenge, gun in hand, police said.

That face was quickly recognized as Samuel Blake Greer, 18, who claims to be Chrzan’s cousin, police said, though they weren’t able to verify any relation as of Friday night. He was arrested.

“What we do not need is someone who wants to take matters into their own hands, and be the result of another senseless death of gun violence,” Hulsey said, reading a statement from Sheriff Terry Langley. “We will not tolerate vigilante justice here.”

A high school senior, Chrzan played clarinet in the Mount Zion High School marching band, WXIA reported. She had already picked up her cap and gown for graduation.

“She would make you just feel amazing about anything,” Autum Parker, a coworker of Chrzan’s at Dairy Queen, told the outlet. “Her giggle! It’s the giggle. Anytime you’d hear the giggle you’d be like Candace is clocked in now!”

Gray and Grier are both facing charges in the aftermath of Chrzan’s death.

According to police, Gray is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and possession of a firearm under the age of 18.

Grier is charged with making terroristic threats, police said.

“Accidents happen and now two families’ lives have been changed forever and one is forever gone,” Langley’s statement said. “In times like this, we cannot let Candace’s life be taken from us without learning from this tragedy.”

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