Teen Playing Russian Roulette By Himself Dead From Gunshot

A teenager in Sherwood, Oregon, died after playing a game of Russian roulette, authorities said Monday.

The Sherwood Police Department said they responded to reports of a shooting just before 4 a.m. EST on Monday. By the time they arrived at the Carriage Park Estates, a mobile home community about a half-block away from the Sherwood Charter School, the teen had already died due to a gunshot wound to his head, ABC affiliate WRIC-TV reported. The name of the teenager killed was not immediately released.

The police then received additional reports from 911 calls that the teen was shot while playing Russian roulette. Sherwood Police Captain Ty Hanlon told local news channels: “Upon arrival, our officers found a subject on the ground who appeared to have suffered from a gunshot wound to his head.”

"It appears that he brought a handgun with him and from witnesses' account that he was playing a game known as Russian roulette. We believe that he showed up and initiated this all on his own."

The weapon was thought to be a .357 revolver and there was at least one “click” of the chamber before the fatal shot, authorities said, according to Oregon Live.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, Russian roulette is an “act of bravado consisting of spinning the cylinder of a revolver loaded with one cartridge, pointing the muzzle at one's own head, and pulling the trigger.”

Witnesses told police that the victim did not ask others to participate in the game. The authorities also believed the teen was from Marion County but was not a resident of the home in which he shot himself.

“We have a lot of young people in the [mobile home] park, we have almost 40 children under 18 in the park,” said local resident Ken McPherson. “It’s usually kids younger than 20 that I see down there.” Local police were being assisted by the Washington County Major Crimes Team in the investigation.

“We’re starting from scratch,” Hanlon said regarding the investigation and added that it was too early to determine if Russian roulette was actually occurring when the teen was shot. The medical examiner removed the body from the scene, WRIC-TV said.

The death comes after a similar incident in November in which a Mississippi teenager died after playing the game. Tovaris Deloach also dies of a gunshot wound to his head. Witnesses told the police that Deloach was talking about Russian roulette as he took out a revolver and removed the bullets. He put a bullet back in the chamber, held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun did not go off the first time he tried again, this time shooting himself in the head.

Four other males were found in the room with Deloach, all of whom lived in the area, Investigator Brent Swan said at the time.

"Forensic evidence and witness statements and the forensic examination of the scene support the fact that it was a self-inflicted gunshot," Swan said. "All the evidence points toward it," he said. "The facts are the facts."