A Texas man shot and killed himself on Tuesday while posing with a gun for a selfie that he wanted to post on social media. Police said he thought the gun wasn't loaded.
Deleon Smith, 19, found the gun and was taking photos of himself and his cousin at an apartment complex in southwest Houston,
according to television station KTRK-TV. While he was trying to take a pic of himself with the weapon it went off, and the bullet struck him in the neck.
An uncle tried to revive Smith but he died at the scene,
said KHOU-TV.
"A numb feeling. It's like still unbelievable," Alma Douglas, Smith's grandmother, told KTRK-TV. "Yesterday was my birthday. He came to wish me a happy birthday. And then to hear this kind of news. He was starting community college tomorrow."
"It's the worst feeling in my life," Eric Douglas, the victim's uncle, told
KPRC-TV. Family members said Smith was survived by two young children.
Taking selfies has become more dangerous as people push the envelope for the ideal picture of themselves. People taking selfies have fatally fallen from
cliffs and
bridges.
In a twist on the story, the
Sunday Mirror reported in 2014 how one 19-year-old man became so obsessed with taking photos of himself that he tried to commit suicide.
Danny Bowman reportedly would take as much as 10 hours daily snapping 200 photos of himself on his iPhone. Because of the obsession, Bowman eventually dropped out of school and didn't leave his home for six months.
Bowman became aggressive with his parents when they tried to stop him from taking pictures and Bowman attempted to overdose afterward.
"I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realized I couldn't I wanted to die," said Bowman. "I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life."
Bowman was treated for technology addiction, OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder – an excessive anxiety about personal appearance.
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