Investigators are trying to understand what happened after one Thurmont, Maryland, man ended up dead in a car accident and another in a trauma center after apparently shooting himself.
It all happened early in the early morning hours earlier this month, when Frederick County sheriff’s deputies came across skid marks, debris and the body of an 18-year-old man. Deputies, confident the young man had perished in a crash, couldn’t find the car in which he’d been riding.
After discovering he’d been with another 18-year-old man the night before, Maryland State Police and sheriff’s deputies went to the home of that man, not far from the crash site, where they found a pickup truck with damage consistent with the debris spotted earlier.
After knocking on the door, a state trooper peered through a window and saw the man they were seeking, injured. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head and was transported by helicopter to the trauma center.
As news of the crash spread throughout the community, family members of the dead man flocked to the crash site to try to piece together what might have happened. They could see skid marks on the narrow road and climbed the rocky terrain to try to figure out what might have occurred.
Law-enforcement officials said they were continuing their investigations of both the shooting and the car accident. The body of the dead teen was taken to Baltimore for an autopsy. Officials at the trauma center would not release information about the condition of the gunshot victim.
Depending on the result of the investigation, if it is found that the man who shot himself was at fault, he can be held accountable, no matter how sad his injuries are. The victim’s family could sue the other teen’s family for wrongful death.