HOUSTON – A Harris County grand jury has indicted a gun-range employee on a manslaughter charge in connection with the fatal shooting a customer, prosecutors said Friday.
According to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Tyler Sutton, 21, was working the counter at the Hot Wells Shooting Range in December 2017, when he allegedly pulled the trigger of a customer’s rifle, sending a bullet through a window, and into the head of customer Joshua Cummings, who was in the in the parking lot.
The incident happened at the Hot Wells Shooting Range on Highway 290 near Barker Cypress back in December 2017.
“I have been around firearms my entire life, and this sad case is a perfect example that no matter how much experience one has with firearms you must treat every firearm as if it were loaded,” Harris County Assistant District Attorney Jim Leitner said. “Presuming that a firearm is not loaded is always a recipe for disaster.”.
Sutton faces two to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The case, which was investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, is assigned to the 176th state district court.