Arizona republican., 1911-04-11
TEMPE
ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING
VERDICT OF THE JURY
The Funeral of lynwood FOCAL vii
Take Place This Morning
at 1924

q. The account printed in yesterday
mornings Republican of the acct
dental shooting the evening before of
Lynwood FOCAL, the eldest son of Mr..
and Mrs. Frank FOCAL, contained
practically all the information that
has developed. The inquest yesterday
morning before Justice of the Peace
E. p. Carr brought to light very lit
tie more. Sonny Kingsbury, in
whose hands was held the gun that
fired the fatal shot. was Of course
the principal witness. sonny told
to the Jury a very straight forward
story and illustrated exactly how the
accident happened. According to his
story, he and Lynwood We're return
ing from the river, Sonny" walking
a few steps ahead and carrying his
little "A shotgun, while LynwOod fol-
lowed close behind carrying a %
rifle. He had a box of shells in his
right hand pants pocket and carried
the gun in his hand. He stopped
forward 10 pick up a rock and as he
did so, he somehow gained the idea
that his companion planned TO rest
the rifle across his back and shoot
To prevent this, he turned suddenly
to the left facing LynwOod and as he
did so, the hammer of the shotgun
caught on his pocket, exploding the
shell and firing its contents into the
other lads abdomen at a range of
only a couple Of feet.
The charge took effect about half
an inch to the left Of the navel max
on
than a quarter. Several other wit
nesses We're near enough to hear the
shot and the boys scream also testi-
fled. They merely related what they
had seen at a distance. DR.. Alexander
hurried to the scene Of the accident.
arriving there probably not over fiji
teen minutes after the shot had been
fired. Lvnwood merely gasped once
or twice after he arrived
The jury after hearing the evidence
rendered a verdict to the effect that
death resulted from a gunshot wound
inflicted in an accidental manner The
members Of the jury were ]. a.
Dimes, foreman, r. A. Windes, L. d.
Crook, w. r. Lewis, NJ Z. Curry and
a. NJ Harmer
A feature of the distressing acct
dent that made it particularly diff
cult for Mrs. FOCAL to bear was the
absence at the time of Mr. FOCAL
Last Thursday Mr. FOCAL, Fenton
Jones. r. L. Mullen and George Tay-
Tor left in the FOCAL automobile for
Aqua Caliente hot springs for an in
definite stay.
Immediately after the accident a
81
main line of the Southern Pacific and
nearest point to the springs that
could be reached by wire, directing
that a messenger be at once dis
patched to the springs to advise Mr.
FOCAL Of the death of his SON To
make certain that Mr.. FOCAL would
get word Fred FOCAL went to Senti-
mel on the evening Maricopa train.
Arriving there he learned that the
messenger had been sent according
to instructions several hours before.
about eight o'clock He wired back
to that effect and returned on the
next train.
The messenger in some manner or
other consumed an immense amount
Of time in covering the twelve miles
between the railroad and the springs
and did not reach the latter place
until nearly one o'clock The MEM
bers Of the party, having no intention.
Of returning for several days had not
cleaned up the automobile nor filled
ii with oil. The moment Mr.. FOCAL
was informed of the accident he pre-
pared to start for Tempe and the
other members of the party decided
to accompany him. 1t took over an
hours time to get the machine ready
to run in good shape and even then
the lights would not burn properly
owing to a lack of carbide. Ii was
very close to three O'clock before the
start was made and even then il was
difficult making any time with the
poor lights but Mr. FOCAL took des-
perate chances and was covering the
ground rapidly until the road got so
bad in the darkness, il was decided
TO hold up a little while until day
light. II became light enough to see
a little below Arlington and from
there on in a terrific pace was kept
up. The party reached here a few
minutes after nine O'Clock. making
the run in a little over six hours.
The funeral will be held this morn
ing from the FOCAL home on East
Fifth street at half past ten and the
interment will be made in the Double
Butte cemetery. 1t is expected that
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Carlson will ar
rive this morning from Lowell to at
tend the funeral.