Police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said Kelly was killed when he attempted to move the cannon from the back of his pick-up and it accidentally discharged. Kelly died at the scene in front of his wife who was "very distressed". Kennett said the barrel of the cannon was about 40mm in diameter. Police were still investigating the circumstances and couldn't reveal more because the matter was with the coroner, she said.
Barry Shine, a friend of Kelly's for 20 years, described him as an "upstanding citizen". "You'd go a long way to find as nice a guy as Derek," he said. "It's an absolute tragedy, and my thoughts are with his wife and family." Kelly was a trained firearms instructor, who was heavily involved with the local community, Shine said. "He's been around firearms all his life."
Kelly was a member of the New Zealand Antique & Historical Arms Association, and proficient with pistols and bolt-action rifles. Shine could not recall Kelly using or having any cannon-type weapons. Another friend, Neil Black, described Kelly as "a great guy". "He had a big collection of firearms - all sorts of things." Black was not familiar with the cannon involved in Kelly's death, but said: "There are groups that build these sorts of things, they're perfectly legal."
3 comments:
Good grief. I thought you needed to have actual fire to discharge a cannon. Though maybe a static charge got into the powder. Though why you'd transport a loaded cannon is another question.
BTW, "by what police described as a small, single-shot cannon." Okay, _are_ there multiple-shot cannons? You know, cannons with a revolver-style device that can hold 5 or 6 shells? I've never seen any.
Lurker111
There are several multiple-shot cannons--the earliest one I am aware of is the Hotchkiss Rotating Cannon, invented in 1872.
Protip: Transport Cannons unloaded and never stand in front of the big hole in front. While he may have been trained it appears that training did not impart safety knowledge
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